Plantar fasciitis can also be somewhat difficult to treat, because continued walking on your feet can prolong inflammation and make it harder for the tissue to heal. At the same time, we’ve already talked about the dangers of prolonged inactivity. So what’s the best course of action for treating plantar fasciitis in active individuals? We explore how active individuals can treat their plantar fasciitis in today’s blog.

Overcoming Plantar Fasciitis As An Active Individual

If you want to get back to doing all the activities you love following a plantar fasciitis diagnosis, you’ll want to keep these tips in mind. Here’s what we typically recommend for athletes and other active individuals battling plantar fasciitis, but consult your specialist for personalized advice:

1. Short-Term Rest/Stress Protection – We understand that you don’t want to slow down, but you’re going to need to back off the activity for a short while. Give your body a break from high impact exercise or other activities that channel a lot of stress onto your feet. Continued stress can cause these microtears to progress, so you need to provide an environment where healing can run its course. Try to limit stress and strain on your feet for a week or two before considering ramping up your activity.

2. Pursue No Impact Exercise – As you begin to take on more activity, consider pursuing no impact or very low impact exercises. Swimming or cycling are two great options that don’t put a lot of strain on your plantar fascia. You can still be active and protective of your plantar fascia as it’s working to recover.

3. Physical Therapy – For best results, you’ll want to mix in some physical therapy exercises to strengthen the plantar fascia and the areas that support the underside of your foot arch. Targeted strength training exercises that focus on your calves and ankles can help to take some stress off the plantar fascia. Connect with a physical therapist or ask your orthopaedic specialist for some physical therapy exercises that could help you overcome your plantar fasciitis.

4. Consider Orthotics – Orthotic inserts can reshape how stress is distributed along the underside of your foot, which can be very protective of your plantar fascia. There are generic inserts designed to be helpful for patients with plantar fasciitis, but everyone’s foot shape is different, so for better results, consider having a custom orthotic inset designed for your individual foot shape. An orthotic insert is a passive way of providing more support to your plantar fascia.

5. Weight Loss – Finally, shedding a little weight can reduce the risk that your plantar fasciitis will return. The more you weigh. the more stress your plantar fascia has to bear with every step you take. You’re already active, which is a great start, but that’s just one pillar of weight loss. A healthy diet, limiting alcohol consumption and striving for at least eight hours of restful sleep at night can make it easier for you to hit your weight loss goals.

Let us help you overcome your plantar fasciitis or related foot issue. For more information, reach out to Dr. Silverman by filling out this contact form.

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The Bucks announced that Brogdon had suffered a partially torn plantar fascia that would sideline him 6-8 weeks. Assuming he hits the short end of that timetable, he should be able to return to the team near the end of the first round of the playoffs or at the start of the second round. But that timeline seems especially optimistic given the true nature of the injury.

Plantar Fascia Tears

Your plantar fascia is the tough band of connective tissue that runs from the heel bone to the base of your proximal phalanges. It helps to support your arch and aid in balance and movement with every step you take. Considering all it does with each step, it’s easy to see how this injury can be a real pain.

The biggest issue with treating a plantar fascia tear is that there often isn’t a great proactive treatment strategy. Even with surgery, there’s the possibility that the scar tissue that develops while healing after an operation can lead to more problems than the original tear. Because of this, conservative care is the standard treatment for partial plantar fascia tears, but even non-operative techniques need to be carefully managed.

At the outset, rest is very important. Treatment typically calls for a couple weeks of rest and the use of a non-weight bearing cast or brace. This gives the fascia tissue plenty of time to reconstruct. From there, it’s a delicate balance of stretching, limited protected walking and physical therapy. You want to gradually restrengthen the area as it heals without putting too much strain on the area, because it doesn’t take much for a setback.

The issue for Brodgon and the Bucks is that while you can get back to most activities at 6-8 weeks, he’s not like most people. Then general rule of thumb for these types of soft tissue injuries is that they are back to 20% health by two weeks, 80% health by eight weeks, and full health by 12 weeks. If Brodgon was your average person, he could probably go about a normal day just fine at 6-8 weeks with only minimal discomfort and risk or re-injury. The problem is that he’s a basketball player playing at the highest level. He’s going to be sprinting, jumping, cutting and pushing off of that foot with great force on a hard surface.

Simply put, it’s very unlikely that he’ll be able to hit the six-week timetable for return without either playing at less than full health or exposing himself to a re-rupture. The Bucks are going to have a tough decision to make, because they’ll want Brodgon back when they need him the most, but if he returns too early, he won’t be fully healthy and could risk re-injury and missing the rest of the season.

Based on the injury and what he’ll need to do upon his return, I’d venture to guess that Brodgon won’t return to the Bucks until the Eastern Conference Finals, which are scheduled to start a little more than eight weeks after the injury. Even that seems like a stretch, but he’ll have the best doctors and therapists working with him every day, so all hope isn’t lost. Hopefully he gets the necessary healing and doesn’t suffer a setback trying to return too quickly.

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Your foot specialist can walk you through some therapy and stretching techniques if you have plantar fasciitis, but we were recently approached by our friends at SportyDoctor.com to see if they could share some of their tips on our website. You can see their full list of 10 stretches for treating plantar fasciitis on their blog, but we’re also going to share half their list on here for our readers. So check out these five plantar fascia stretches, and be sure to swing over to SportyDoctor.com for more information about sports medicine and injury care.

Plantar Fascia Stretches

Here’s a look at five stretches you can do to help treat discomfort caused by plantar fasciitis.

1. Water Bottle Roll – Take a room temperature water bottle or a wear socks if you take one out of the fridge and place is horizontally on the ground. Sit in a chair and roll your foot back and forth over the water bottle. This stretch helps to engage your plantar fascia and your intrinsic foot muscles.

2. Wall Calf Stretches – Stand facing a wall, bend your knees a little and reach one leg back behind you, keeping your heel on the ground. Push against the wall and you should begin to feel your calf muscles stretching. Hold the position for 15-20 seconds and then switch legs. This stretch will help strengthen and engage your calf muscles, your Achilles tendon and your plantaris muscle.

3. Heel Lifts – Stand behind a chair with your arms on the back of the chair. Press up onto the front of your toes, lifting your heels off the ground. Slowly slower yourself down after holding the position for a second or two. Do 10-15 lifts and then take a break. This will help relax your calf muscles, your Achilles, your plantaris muscle and your plantar fascia.

4. Step Up Arch Extensions – This stretch helps if your plantar fasciitis is due in part to fallen arches. Stand with the ball of your foot on the edge of a stair, then lower your heel off the edge of the stair until you feel a stretch. Hold this position for 15-30 seconds, as this will help stretch your posterior tibial tendon, plantar fascia, your calf and your Achilles tendon.

5. Sideways Leg Lifts – For the final stretch, lay on your side and perform sideways scissors lifts with your top leg. Do this 10-15 times, then rotate onto your other hip and perform the stretch with your other leg. This will help strengthen your hip flexors and thigh muscles, which can alter the way you distribute weight to your feet, and in turn help with your plantar fasciitis. This also helps engage your glutes, your psoas major and other important structures in your hips.

To learn more about the five above stretches, or to check out the other five stretches that are helpful with plantar fasciitis, swing on over to SportyDoctor.com!

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Causes of Plantar Fascia Ruptures

As we mentioned above, plantar fascia ruptures typically occur during high impact activities, like:

• Basketball

• Track and Field

• Running

• Falls

• Exercises involving jumps

Athletes who participate in those activities are at an increased risk for a plantar fascia rupture, but there are other factors that can increase a person’s likelihood of rupturing their plantar fascia. For example, individuals with an abnormal gait, structural abnormalities, improper footwear or who are overweight are all more likely to rupture their plantar fascia than others.

Symptoms of Plantar Fascia Ruptures

You might not know that you ruptured your plantar fascia the moment it happens, but you’ll certainly know there is something wrong with your foot when the injury occurs. A plantar fascia rupture is categorized by the following symptoms:

• Acute pain in the arch of your foot

• Swelling and bruising on your foot

• A popping sound at the moment of injury

• Inability to bear your full weight or push off your foot

Unlike some other foot injuries, a plantar fascia tear can occur in various parts of the fascia, not just in the arch. Additionally, a person doesn’t have to suffer a full rupture of the plantar fascia. Patients can suffer a partial tear, which can worsen if not allowed to fully heal.

Treatment of Plantar Fascia Rupture

If you believe you’ve suffered a plantar fascia rupture, one of the first things you’ll want to do is seek the care of a foot and ankle specialist. They know the in’s and out’s of the injury, and they know how best to treat it. The first thing the doctor will probably recommend is an MRI. The MRI exam will identify whether the plantar fascia is partially or fully ruptured, or if another area of the foot is causing the pain.

The good news is that even if you are diagnosed with a full or partial tear, you probably won’t need surgery, unless another problematic issue is detected. The general care for a ruptured plantar fascia is a heavy dose of rest, non-weight bearing, and over-the-counter pain/anti-inflammatory medications. Depending on the severity of the injury, you’ll need to avoid full weight-bearing for days or weeks. If you suffer a full rupture, you may be able to bear weight on the foot after a few weeks, but it could be months before you’re ready to return to intense activities, like the one that caused the fascia to rupture in the first place. Talk to your doctor to get a better understanding of your personal timeline to return to activities.

Related source: Food Education

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