By far the single most common problem that is seen in a foot specialist’s office today involves heel or arch pain. Known as plantar fasciitis, heel spurs or heel spur syndrome, this condition can be very painful – even debilitating!
WHY ARE YOU GETTING THE PAIN?
There are tissues that connect the bottom of the heel to the ball of the foot. These tissues stretch with every step we take. Sometimes something about the structure of the feet or legs causes them to stretch excessively with every step. This irritates the tissues at their weakest point of attachment– the heel. Ongoing irritation results in inflammation.
We call this inflammation plantar fasciitis. If the inflammation has been present for a long time, sometimes the heel bone responds by producing a little extra spike of bone, called a spur. Many people actually have heel spurs and no pain. The pulling of the tissues, not the spur, along with the inflammation is the cause of your pain.
HOW DO WE TREAT IT?
Effective treatment is aimed first at the cause of your pain and then at the pain itself. So we must reduce the overstretching of those tissues. We accomplish this in a number of ways. Wearing supportive footwear often will reduce the motion of the foot with each step. Whether or not a footwear change is enough to resolve your problem depends on your unique case. Bandaging, padding and strapping the foot can also be helpful. Physical therapies, stretching exercises, ice, anti inflammatory medications and even steroid injections are often used to treat this condition.
All of these treatments help to reduce inflammation, but only temporarily if the cause of the problem remains. Ideally, these therapies are used in conjunction with modes of treatment that address the cause of your pain (the excessive pulling of the plantar fascia). If these do not relieve your symptoms, or do so only temporarily, then orthotics are the treatment of choice.
WHO DO I SEE ABOUT THIS PROBLEM?
A Chiropodist is trained and educated to examine you, assess and diagnose the problem. We can provide the necessary treatments and advise you about all that you can do to help reduce your symptoms and assist your body to heal itself.
Andrew Springer is a Chiropodist with 29 years of experience who practices in Toronto and Oshawa.