Plantar Fascia Treatment

 “My patients need patience.”

I often tell people this as we begin to work in our office on correcting an injury.  We are trying to correct an issue that has been building for years or decades, in the matter of days or weeks.  But as you know, we as humans often want things NOW!

And…sadly, I’m no different, especially when it comes to injuries.  And extra especially if it comes to an injury that prevents me from running or training for an upcoming event. 

Last March I decided to take Eddy and a couple of his friends to an open gym to play some basketball and of course I jumped right in to playing as if I hadn’t taken off several years.  In fact, I had played basketball less than 5 times since Emerin was born, and she just turned 7!  Nonetheless, there I was sprinting up and down the court, changing directions and acting as if I was still in my 20’s. 

Then it happened…I felt the little sensation of a ‘tear’ in the bottom of my left foot.  I ignored it at the time, and even played basketball again two days later, only to exacerbate the injury.  I partially tore my plantar fascia.  If you’ve had plantar fasciitis, you know how it can be nagging, feeling like you’ve got a stone in your shoe. 

Being a runner, this was not good.  I tried to run through it while treating it on my own, but that simply wasn’t getting it any better let alone getting it better RIGHT NOW like I wanted! 

After dropping out of a 50-kilometer race in June, I knew I had to do more than I was doing.  So, I contacted another chiropractor and began receiving care there as well as increasing the self-care I was working on.  I’ll outline all that I did to get it better and will recommend you do the same if you’re dealing with heel and foot pain!

·         Foot, Ankle, Knee, Hip, Lumbar Spine and Pelvic adjustments to improve biomechanics.

       Soft tissue work to break up scar tissue.

·         Ultrasound and Infrared Therapy

·         Laser

·         Dry Needling

·         Home exercises including “Toe Yoga” and Calf stretches.

I think the biggest and most helpful part of the treatments was the home exercises.  So many of us have feet that are rarely out of a shoe, and therefore the individual toes don’t get much work.  The intrinsic muscles of the foot are essential to proper biomechanics!  Use them!  Not sure how?  Ask me, as I am now in the habit of doing “Toe Yoga” throughout the day!

I’m happy to say I’m back to running without pain, and just in time, as next week I’m going to Ouray, Colorado for the next adventure—helping a friend try to cover 100 miles in the San Juan Mountains.  More on that in the next column!

In closing, remember that healing can take time.  But it won’t start until you take action!  If you are having foot issues and foot pain, don’t just think it’ll go away.  Take action.  Call us today!