By Andrew Siyabalawatte, Oct 2022.
What is Plantar fasciitis?
The thick band of tissue (also called fascia) at the bottom of your foot that runs from your heel to your toes can become inflamed, causing Plantar Fasciitis.
The most common symptom
Plantar fasciitis causes pain in your heel. It’s usually worse when you take your first steps in the morning or after you’ve been sitting for a long time.
It tends to feel better with activity but worsens again after you spend a long time standing or walking.
How does Plantar fasciitis develop?
Over time, the plantar fascia is subject to a significant amount of stress, as its constantly absorbs the weight of the body when standing, walking or running.
This mechanism of stress, over time, can causes the fascia to thicken as it develops scar tissue to support and heal the damaged fascia.
What is scar tissue and how does it affect the Plantar fascia?
The body naturally produces scar tissue to aid in tissue repair, replacing healthy tissue that has been damaged following injury.
When the plantar fascia thickens with the build up of scar tissue, there becomes an inherent inability for the fascia to heal properly.
The continued stresses through the plantar fascia in it’s chronic state, over time, leads to further inflammation and injury.
What is Shockwave Therapy and how does it help treat Plantar fasciitis?
Shockwave therapy, also known as Extracorporeal Shock Wave Therapy (ESWT), is a clinically proven and highly effective treatment for chronic soft tissue injuries.
Shockwave therapy works by producing high levels of energy to increase blood flow to an injured tissue like scar tissue, which has built up over the duration that the injury is still present.
The increased blood flow brings nutrition to the inflamed area and increases cell permeability, which increases healing of the plantar fascia and ultimately reduces pain.
Pain Relief
Shockwave therapy has proven to hyper stimulate nerve endings, resulting in pain reduction.
A recent study in 2021 concluded that shockwave therapy decreases the thickness of the plantar fascia and improves pain and function significantly.
Are you suffering with plantar fasciitis?
Here at Back To Health Wellness, we can help you with shockwave therapy and other therapies like osteopathy and massage, which can also help to alleviate heel and foot pain associated with plantar fasciitis. Click here to book with our team.