Stabbing Foot and Heel Pain? It Could Be Plantar Fasciitis

When you get out of bed in the morning and start hobbling around because of searing pain across the bottom of your foot and in your heel — it’s not the best way to start your day.

This symptom, and others we explore shortly, is the hallmark of plantar fasciitis, which sends two million people in the United States to seek medical treatment annually.

Here at SOAR Spine and Orthopedics, our team of musculoskeletal experts routinely helps patients who come to us with foot and heel pain, and plantar fasciitis is often the culprit behind the problem.

In the following, we take a quick dive into this common condition and review the symptoms of plantar fasciitis, how it develops, and most importantly, what we can do to get you moving again without pain.

Plantar fasciitis basics

For such small appendages, your feet are incredibly complex. For starters, each foot contains 26 bones, accounting for a quarter of the bones in your entire body between your two feet.

Underneath many of these bones is a strong band of tissue called your plantar fascia, which stretches from your heel to the base of your toes. You can feel this tissue along the bottom of your feet. The primary role of these tissues is to provide support for the arches in your feet and act as shock absorbers.

When you have plantar fasciitis, the tissue gets overstressed, creating tiny tears and inflammation. 

As for who can develop this condition, there are several risk factors involved, such as:

• Gaining a lot of weight quickly (pregnant women are at risk for plantar fasciitis)
• Being obese
• Working on your feet all-day
• Having flatfeet or high arches
• Changing your running routine — going farther or running on different surfaces

For this last one — running — plantar fasciitis accounts for about 10% of running injuries.

Common signs of plantar fasciitis

We started this discussion with one of the most common signs of plantar fasciitis — foot and heel pain after inactivity. When you sleep or sit for long periods, the inflammation in your plantar fascia tightens the tissue. So, when you stand up again, the tissue needs to stretch back out, which is why your first steps can be painful.

With mild to moderate plantar fasciitis, this pain usually goes away after you move around a little, though it can come back at the end of the day as inflammation sets in again.

If the condition progresses, the pain and discomfort can become more constant. Bone spurs can also develop on your heels in response to plantar fasciitis, making matters worse, which is why you can experience heel pain.

Getting relief from your plantar fasciitis

The team at SOAR includes podiatric specialists, so you’ve come to the right place for your foot and heel pain. If we find that you have plantar fasciitis, we usually start conservatively with:

• Over-the-counter pain medications, such as ibuprofen
• Ice and heat therapies
• Stretching exercises
• Activity modification

If your plantar fasciitis pain is severe, we can get more aggressive with a corticosteroid injection, which tackles the pain and inflammation.

How custom orthotics can help with plantar fasciitis

Custom orthotics are designed to support and comfort your feet and even correct foot problems. Orthotics are crafted after your podiatrist evaluates your feet and ankles, and even your gait. Orthotics provide a variety of benefits, including:

Custom-made and designed

Prescription orthotics are custom-designed to fit your feet, meaning there is no other orthotic like it on the market. They work to correct your foot functionally, to relieve pressure on your plantar fascia.

Long-lasting

Custom orthotics may come with a higher price tag, but they’re more likely to last. Podiatrists use high-quality technology to ensure long-lasting materials and fit. 

Correcting biomechanical problems

After getting used to and wearing your orthotics regularly, your arch can stop overstretching, allowing the soft tissue to heal. In doing so, symptoms of plantar fasciitis should decrease dramatically.

What is shockwave therapy?

Shockwave therapy is a non-invasive treatment that stimulates the body’s natural healing process. It can relieve pain and promote healing of injured tendons, ligaments, and other soft tissues. It accomplishes this by releasing growth factors in the injured tissue. Shockwave therapy is sometimes referred to as EPAT, or extracorporeal pulse activation technology.

Shockwave therapy is a type of regenerative medicine (also known as an orthobiologic therapy). It is used to treat tendinopathy as well as difficult-to-heal ligament injuries. Some degenerative tendinopathies have an associated buildup of calcium in the tendon.

Platelet-rich Plasma injections for plantar fasciitis

Platelet-rich plasma therapy (abbreviated as PRP) is a regenerative treatment for Plantar Fasciitis that consists of the injection of your own platelets to trigger the body’s natural repair and regeneration processes. PRP is effective in the treatment of several musculoskeletal conditions, including injury of tendons, ligaments, muscles, and joints.

PRP replacing surgery for many orthopedic conditions

PRP injections have been replacing traditional surgery for many orthopedic conditions ranging from soft tissue injuries (tendonitis, ligament injuries, muscle tears) to joint disorders, such as a meniscus tear or mild to moderate joint arthritis.

PRP therapy takes advantage of the fact that platelets have an important role in the process of wound and soft tissue healing, particularly when inflammation has developed. PRP therapy requires only a small amount of your own blood. This sample is centrifuged to obtain a fraction that has a high concentration of activated platelets—the platelet-rich plasma fraction. The PRP is then injected into the injured tissue to promote its healing.

The administration of these activated platelets causes a local response that promotes healing and regeneration. This treatment exerts beneficial effects through several mechanisms. These include:

• Stimulation of the tissue’s natural regeneration processes via the activation and release of natural growth factors in the injured tissue.
• Local inflammatory reaction that promotes the increase of blood flow to the injured tissue.
• Restriction of scar tissue formation.

We perform this procedure using ultrasound imaging to guide the injection. Ultrasound guidance increases the accuracy of the PRP administration, which may decrease pain following the procedure. We also use light activation to increase the efficacy of our platelets, which may also reduce any discomfort you may feel after the procedure. In general, PRP therapy requires only one session, but depending on the clinical characteristics of your Plantar Fasciitis, additional injections may be needed.

In rare cases, we may need to resort to a surgical plantar fascia release, but we’re getting ahead of ourselves.

Your first step toward getting relief from your plantar fasciitis is to schedule an appointment with one of our foot health experts.

To get started, contact us at one of our offices in Santa Clara or Redwood City, California.