Plantar Heel Pain
Original Editor - Mariam Hashem
Top Contributors - Mariam Hashem, Jess Bell, Lucinda hampton, Kim Jackson, Tarina van der Stockt and Habibu Salisu Badamasi
Introduction[edit | edit source]
Plantar heel pain, also known as plantar fasciitis or fasciopathy. Differentiation between terms is important because there is a number of causes that can cause or contribute to the heel pain and not all of them relate to the fascia.
Plantar heel pain is most common in middle-aged women. The reasons for the high incidence in women are not known, however, it has been linked to early menopause. The hormonal changes are believed to attribute to a weakening of the fascia and maybe an increased stress.
The symptoms of plantar heel pain are in middle-aged women are associated with:
- Prolonged standing
- Recent changing of shoe wear
- Stress
The pain tends to be particularly bad in the morning causing the patient to struggle when they get out of the bed and start their day.
Patients usually use the internet to look up for education, advice and remedies for their symptoms. Some patients we see at the clinic may have tried strapping, rolling the foot on the ice bottle, rolling it on golf balls, and doing various stretches. And often they would say these treatments have been particularly painful, but they haven't made a difference to the pain. This drives patients to look for professional advice.
If we look at the literature, there's some pretty good studies showing that physiotherapy will have positive benefits on plantar heel pain. HOwever, when it comes to the clinical practice, different measures should be considered to apply research findings properly and see positive results. Often, the treatment that works for a woman might differ from the treatment that works for a man. The level of activity is an important factor as well as the patient's history. Considering individual factors and using clinical reasoning skills are mandatory when it comes to the treatment of plantar heel pain and other MSK issues.
