Plantar Fascitis Self Treatment

Protocol for treating Plantar fasciitis symptoms.

Considerations

There is always a reason for the onset of plantar fasciitis symptoms. Most commonly it is due to a change in footwear that has somehow irritated the muscles in the arch of the foot. These muscles attach to a ridge of bone in your heel, and can begin to pull so consistently that they create what’s known as an avulsion stress, where the lining of the bone becomes irritated and very painful to stand on.

Other reasons for the onset of these symptoms can relate to your low back and pelvic muscles pulling your hip towards inappropriate angles, which cause the foot to roll into a compensatory position with each step you take. Also issues with the muscles in the lower leg which help support the arch of the foot can lead to the foot arch muscles over working and lead to the same symptoms of plantar fasciitis.

Treating the Arch of the foot.

So, the areas to treat are the arch of the foot, not the heel, (we’ll come to this later) This is easily done by using a firm rubber ball about the size of a golf ball. (Childrens bouncy ‘power balls’ are perfect) Or if this is too painful, start with a tennis ball with a larger surface area that won’t push so deeply into the muscles, then work your way to the smaller firmer ball. (Golf balls tend to be too intense, but if that’s all you can find then go for it) Or reach to your foot and use your hands to treat the muscles. As with treatment in my clinic, the aim is to create a stimulus powerful enough to create change, but not traumatise you or your muscle tissue.

Treating the lower leg musles

Once you have plantar fasciitis symptoms the chances are good that the muscles in your lower leg are now involved, even if they weren't before, so they need to be treated, especially the ‘stirrup muscles’ The tibialis anterior, and the peroneal (sometimes called the fibularis) muscles.  I will have told you how to treat these during your visit. (Look them up on google if you are unsure of their positions).

You also need to treat a third muscle, tibialis posterior, which is on the back of your shin bone, underneath your calf muscle on the back of your lower leg. I will have shown you this during treatment, using your other knee as a massage tool or again reaching down to massage with your hands.

Don’t use ice

Ice is not a useful modality for treating plantar fasciitis, despite often being told to do so by medical/sports professionals. (Link) Use heat on the muscles of your foot arch and lower leg, but not on the heel. If you feel like the heat aggravates, simply stop using it, but don’t be tempted to use ice.

Insoles/ Arch supports

Using soft insoles that take the stress off the irritated heel and gently support the arch of the foot can be helpful during the recovery process. You can get these off Amazon or from a chemist. I don’t recommend using just heel wedges, as these can further aggravate the arch muscles. Ideally you need half or full length insoles that support the arch, and even more ideally with the centre of the heel having a hole so no pressure is on the wedge of irritation.

It’s important to use the insoles in both feet, or you will create more problems with your back or pelvis. Also regularly test (by walking without the insoles)  to see if your symptoms are improving, as you don’t want to be using insoles/arch supports for longer than you have to.

Massage friction to irritated heel area

Try using friction style massage to the irritated heel area just before bed, this allows the irritation to create a healing stimulus that can take effect while you are off your feet. You may need to do this every other day or less. Gauge by how you feel in the morning when you get up and put your weight on it.

Other muscles

During your treatment we hopefully would have found if your pelvic or low back muscles are involved and I would have shown you how to self treat these using a ball, etc.

Footwear

You obviously need to stop using any offending footwear. 

I am a fan of ‘Barefoot’ shoes/boots, and would recommend considering this type of footwear. But it’s not for everyone and there is a transition period, especially if you are a runner or hiker. 

Learn what you can from YouTube before going down this route. You will also often find that influencers such as Laura Try will have discount codes for some of the barefoot shoe outlets online.