Heel & Arch Pain (including Heel Spurs & Plantar Fasciitis/Fasciosis)
Heel and arch pain are the single largest causes of foot discomfort. The pain usually presents as a result of faulty biomechanics (i.e. poor foot and leg alignment) when standing, walking or running. Pain is typically worse in the morning or after periods of sitting, and often subsides after hobbling around for a few minutes. Then, if you spend enough time on your feet the pain returns.
Heel and arch pain is commonly attributed to damage to a structure that runs the length of your arch and takes the full force of body weight each step, called the plantar fascia. The plantar fascia is a strong ligament type tissue that attaches to the five joints at the ball of the foot at one end, and to the bottom of the heel at the other (this is where heel spurs occur).
Heel spurs are very common and very real but are generally not the cause of pain. It is the plantar fascia that causes the spur and the pain. So, if we fix the plantar fascia the spur will remain where it has generally already been for years without you knowing it.
Along with faulty biomechanics, many factors can overload the plantar fascia and heel bone, such as poorly constructed footwear, being overweight, or a change in circumstance, whether sporting, occupational or living.
Despite the numerous factors that can trigger heel and arch pain, the one similarity that develops is the difficulty the body has in healing the injury without additional assistance.
Your podiatrist will assess your standing, walking and, if needed, running gait closely to determine why the damage occurred in the first place. An appropriate treatment process will then be instigated to rectify the cause and relieve the symptoms.
In essence, the plantar fascia needs to have the amount of daily stress on it minimised, and any damaged caused each and every day treated.
