Plantar Fascitis

Inflammation of the plantar fascia hurts! When the connective tissue that runs from your heel to your toes gets irritated, it swells and can become painful. Sometimes bone spurs can form on your heel. If you receive the proper treatment for plantar fascitis, you can heal this injury. Some of the causes of plantar fascitis have to do with your foot structure or gait or other tissues like a tight Achilles Tendon. When you walk you pronate and supinate the foot.

• Slap the ground or push off?


• Your foot absorbs the shock of your motion


• This force goes right into the bottom of the foot

Conventional therapy may involve rest, steroid injection and usually requires six weeks to 3 months to heal. Surgery can take even longer.

ART and Graston have shown complete resolution of the plantar fascitis symptoms in 90% of cases. With marked improvement in just one to three treatments. I have seen great results even with patients who have developed chronic plantar fascitis.

ART and Graston protocols work on the foot muscles that become affected by the injury. The muscles that help the foot flex such as the Flexor digitorum Brevis muscle, and the Quadratus Plantae muscle are often involved. They run very deep within the foot and seem to respond to the deep tissue release abilities of these techniques.

1. Structures Involved

• Gastrocnemius/Soleus


• Tibialis Posterior


• Flexor digitorum longus


• Flexor hallucis longus muscle

Any alteration in these muscles will affect the way you pronate and supinate your foot.

2. Repetitive motion

• Worn out shoes?


• structure stressed = inflammation = cross fiber adhesions = friction syndrome = scar tissue formation

3. Follow up with Exercises

• Stretch Gastronemius, Soleus, Tibialis anterior, Hamstrings


• Walk on your toes and heels with feet straight, out and in for 20-30 times


• Calf raises 20-30 times

Active Release Technique

This technique was developed by a Chiropractor Dr Michael Leahy, of Colorado Springs, Colorado.

Essentially, ART is a hands-on soft-tissue technique that can simultaneously locate and break up scar tissue. The power of ART lies in how it combines patient motion with practitioner techniques to release the adhesion's between tissue layers. This process

* restores mobility and relative motion to the soft tissue layers

*increases circulatory function, and

* increases neurological function by breaking restrictive adhesion's.

Effectiveness of Active Release Techniques

There are people who say they are ART certified but are not. So, take the time to check out the certification levels of your ART doctor. ART offers many courses:

• Upper extremity
• Lower extremity
• Spine
• Long nerve entrapment's
• Biomechanics
• Master classes
  

Great book I recommend is "Release Your Pain" by Dr Abelson, DC. Would recommend this!