Plantar Fasciitis: Causes, Treatment and Relief Through Physiotherapy

Plantar fasciitis is a really common thing that causes heel pain in all sorts of people. It happens when that thick band of tissue on the bottom of your foot, called the plantar fascia, gets irritated. It can be really painful, especially when you first get out of bed in the morning.

At Sterling Physiotherapy in Hamilton, we help people feel better, get back to using their feet normally, and stop the pain from coming back. We do this with physiotherapy that's proven to work.

What Makes It Happen?

Usually, plantar fasciitis comes from doing too much and putting too much pressure on that plantar fascia. Things that can cause it are:

• Doing too much running, walking, or standing.
• Playing sports with a lot of impact or suddenly doing more activity than usual.
• Having flat feet, high arches, or just not having good foot mechanics.
• Having tight calf muscles
• Being overweight.
• Wearing shoes that don't give you enough support.

Knowing what's causing it is important so you can treat it the correct way and stop it from happening again.

What to Look For

Here are some things you might feel if you have plantar fasciitis:

• A sharp pain in your heel, especially when you wake up or after you've been resting.
• Pain that gets worse after you've been active for a while.
• Your heel might hurt when you touch it.
• Your heel area might be a little swollen.
• It might be hard to walk comfortably on hard surfaces.

If you don't take care of it, plantar fasciitis can make it hard to move around and do what you normally do every day.

How Physiotherapy Can Help

Physiotherapy helps with the pain, gets your foot working right, and keeps problems from happening again. At Sterling Physiotherapy, here's what we might do:

1. Work with Our Hands

We use our hands to loosen up the plantar fascia, your calf muscles to help you move better and hurt less.

2. Stretching and Exercise

We'll show you stretches for your plantar fascia and calves, and exercises to make your feet stronger. This helps your foot work the way it should and takes stress off it.

3. Shoe Advice

We'll tell you what kind of shoes to wear. If you need them, we can also fit you for custom orthotics to fix the way your foot lines up and give you relief.

4. Changing What You Do

We can give you tips on how to change your exercise routine, how you walk, or how you stand so your foot can heal while you stay active.

5. Teaching You to Care for Yourself

We'll teach you how to take care of yourself, including stretches, massage, and how to pick the right shoes so it doesn't come back.

Simple Things You Can Do at Home

• Stretch your calves and plantar fascia gently every day.
• Roll your foot over a tennis ball or a frozen water bottle to ease the pain.
• Wear shoes that support your feet, even when you're at home.
• Try not to walk barefoot on hard floors.
• Don't do a lot of high-impact activities until your foot feels better.

Doing these things regularly and correctly will help you feel better.

When to See Us

You should get help from us if:

• Your heel hurts for more than a few weeks.
• Your pain gets worse when you're active or walking.
• You see swelling or redness.
• Your foot pain is making it hard to do what you normally do.

Things you're doing at home aren't helping much.

Getting physiotherapy early can help you recover faster and keep the pain from becoming chronic.

Why Choose Sterling Physiotherapy?

At Sterling Physiotherapy, we'll check you out and create a plan that's just for you to fix what's causing your plantar fasciitis. We want to ease your pain, get your foot working like it should, and help you get back to your life or sports without pain.

Book your assessment today so you can move without pain!