What is Plantar Fasciitis?

What is Plantar Fasciitis?

A lot of people suffer from plantar fasciitis and are unclear of what it is. When addressing the question,"what is plantar fasciitis" the first thing to remember is that it is an overuse injury. Excess stress to the soft tissue, in most cases, will cause pain of some kind. Let's use an example... You run 3 times a week, a few miles at a time and decide you want to up your mileage. Maybe you are a 5K runner and want to train for a half marathon. Jumping into higher mileage too quickly could potentially create an injury. In comes the nasty and unforgiving plantar fasciitis. It may start with a twinge in your heel but you continue to run expecting it to work its way out. It gets worse, you have to stop running, and potentially miss the big race you were training for. 

This is just one example and there are many more ways you could find yourself afflicted with this nagging issue. It's not just runners that end up with this affliction, everyone from the casual athlete to the worker who's on their feet all day are susceptible to a bout of plantar fasciitis in their lifetime. 

 

Let's dive into the nitty gritty, shall we? What is plantar fasciitis?

The plantar fascia is located on the bottom of the foot originating at the heel and orienting itself under the metatarsals in the forefoot. This soft tissue works like a rubber band flexing back and forth as the foot maneuvers through the gait cycle. Now, "itis" stands for inflammation so the terminology would imply there is inflammation in the plantar fascia. The more the tissue is damaged the more inflammation you will experience. This results is different levels of pain as the inflammation increases. The inflammation is a direct result of small tears in the tissue. Because the plantar fascia moves with ever step this issue can take a long time to heel. Damage to soft tissue that is constantly on the move can be tricky to deal with. Think about a tear in a rubber band... Put glue on that band... Now, before the glue dries, stretch the band back out. The glue will not hold and the tear is still present....and so is the pain.

 

 There is no one way to address PF. You should address multiple points in the kinetic chain via massage, rest, ice to address inflammation and utilize COMPRESSION to increase blood flow to the area and stabilize the affected areas. The Feetures PF Relief sock is designed to offer relief while addressing the underlying issues of PF. 

 

Good luck, exercise smart, and if this pain affects your life contact the good old neighborhood podiatrist or PT.  Early treatment is key to a faster recovery and knowing the cause can stop it all together.


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