Physical Therapy For Plantar Fasciitis
There are many reasons why a person my fall victim to plantar fasciitis and it’s inherent pain. Most of the time, it has to do with tight muscles. After a period of time, the plantar fascia band weakens and breaks down causing tremendous pain.
With Physical Therapy, it is possible to heal plantar fasciitis along with podiatry treatment such as orthotics. Physical Therapy is necessary to both strengthen a weak plantar fascia band, stretch the foot and calf muscles, and release any scar tissue that is preventing full recovery.
In most cases, physical therapy can help heal plantar fasciitis within several weeks. It is only when a significant amount of scar tissue has built up that it may take longer and then extra soft tissue massage can be done to alleviate this scar tissue.
Here are a few examples of treatment that we implement at Cross Bay Physical Therapy to help you heal from plantar fasciitis:
- Calf Stretches - A loose calf muscle is vital to healing the plantar fascia band because tight calf muscles pull on the heel making it virtually impossible for the plantar fascia band to heel. What is most important is that it is both the calf muscles and the achilles tendon that becomes tight and must be loosened not just the calf muscle.
- Soft Tissue Massage - Our physical therapists implement soft tissue massage in the arch of the foot and around the ankle to eliminate scar tissue that is preventing the plantar fascia band from heeling. At home, this is often completely by either rolling a tennis ball underneath one’s foot or massaging ones plantar fascia band.
- Plantar Fascia Strengthening - A range of strengthening exercises is implemented during our physical therapy sessions that makes sure the band does not remain weak. A weak plantar fascia band will always continue to give a person problems. These exercises include actually strengthening the plantar fascia band through a series of foot arch exercises.
It is important to see a physical therapist before trying some of these exercises in order to ensure that they are actually working to help you. Plantar Fasciitis can be healed quickly with the right treatment and we are confident that we can help you get rid of this problem for good.
With a combination of stretching, strengthening, and soft tissue massage, your pain should significantly decrease in just a few short weeks.
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By Benjamin Bieber