If you are one of the 2 million Americans who suffer from heel pain caused by plantar fasciitis each year, then don’t worry as help is at hand. But before we go into things you can do to reduce the pain associated with the condition, and the steps you can take to ensure better foot alignment and weight distribution going forward, we thought we’d start with a description of the disorder.
All of us have a thick ligament – called the plantar fascia – that runs along the underside of our foot. The plantar fascia can be thought of as a band of connective tissue that runs from the heel to the toes. If you run your fingers along the bottom of your flexed foot you should be able to feel it quite easily.
With every step that we take the plantar fascia stretches and helps distribute our weight across our foot both left to right and front to back. Problems occur when this ribbon of tissue develops tiny tears and becomes inflamed. A stabbing or aching pain in the heel of the foot is the result. Some sufferers find the pain to be most acute first thing in the morning as the plantar fascia tightens during the night.
If you spend a great deal of time standing or carrying weight you are more likely to develop the condition. For this reason it’s been named ‘policeman’s heel.’ People who are overweight, as well as pregnant women for that matter, have higher than average incidence rates. Runners and athletes who do a lot of jumping are also commonly afflicted due to prolonged and repeated downward pressure on the foot.
One of the best ways to get rid of this nagging heel pain that affects so many is to purchase a set of specially designed shoe inserts for plantar fasciitis. A good brand to look for is Walkfit shoe inserts. These ensure that your plantar fascia is not overly stressed when you walk, stand or exercise, that your heel alignment is true and your weight is evenly distributed across the whole of your foot.