Three of the women I worked with as volunteers for yesterday’s used book sale were complaining about their feet hurting. We were all standing up helping customers find the books they wanted while keeping the tables laden with books looking relatively neat.

When I politely asked for more details about their discomfort, two women said they had heel pain and the fourth pinpointed her problem as plantar fasciitis.

Plantar fasciitis may not be a household word but it is very common. There is a risk it can happen to anyone, not just someone over 50 or 60. The pain can last for weeks or for months which makes it difficult to walk. The good news it usually gets better on its own time which makes it even more frustrating. There are some treatments, however, that do improve and maybe even speed the recovery of the condition. They are inexpensive and simple and most can be used to reduce the risk of plantar faciitis in the first place.

The plantar fascia is a band of tissue that forms the arch of your foot. It extends from your heel to each of the bones that make up the ball of your foot. There is a pad of fat in your heel, over the plantar fascia, that helps absorb the shock when you walk.

What Causes the Pain?

There are a couple of theories about why older people are at higher risk than someone who is twenty years old. The first is that as we age the plantar fascia loses its stretch. It could also be that the fat pad on the heel gets thinner and does not absorb shock very well. Or you may also have a bone spur growing where the plantar fascia joins your heel bone. This makes your heel hurt even more.

Doctors are not really sure why some people have this pain and others do not. One theory is that the plantar fascia is inflamed from too much pounding on a hard surface. The result is experience pain when you first stand up and walk in the morning or when you stand after sitting for a length time.  However, the pain usually diminishes once you start walking.
One of the problem is that plantar fasciitis is so painful it causes many to walk with a different gait. A different gait could bring on knee and hip problems and back problems. Now you are really in trouble. You may also want to learn more about fallen arches as the cause of plantar fasciitis in an earlier post.

In my next post I’ll describe some of the treatments you can do for yourself to reduce the pain. If you have questions, be sure to type them in the comment box so I can answer them in my next post or by email.

To your healthy aging.

Ruthan
Copywriter & Health and Business Writer

http://ruthanbrodsky.com

http://secretstohealthandaging.com

Not all causes of heel pain are plantar fasciitis although it is the major reason. Other possibilities of heel pain are explained below.  Read the rest of this entry

Heel pain is one of those complaints commonly diagnosed by a podiatrist, a foot doctor. To no surprise, the most common diagnosis for heel pain is plantar fasciitis. Heel Spur Syndrome is another name that is used to identify the condition. 

Plantar means the bottom of the foot. The fascia is a long ligament that runs along the foot. Itis means inflammation (tonsillitis). The name plantar fasciitis means tearing and inflammation of that long ligament at the bottom of your foot. This is a result of small micro-tears in the fascia due to overstress. 

A heel spur can develop as a result of the pull and stress of the fascia on the bone. However, the spur is usually not the cause of pain. In fact, many people with bone spurs do not have any pain at all. The pain comes from abnormal motion in your feet, usually pronation. When the feet turn in and collapse, the fascia takes on an extra stress at the heel. It only takes a small change in your activity or a change in shoes to cause a small tear if you are prone to this condition.

 If you have low arches you are probably prone to heel spurs but you can also get them if you have high arches. The tearing that occurs at the fascia, near the heel, is microscopic. It is not a full rupture but it is enough to weaken the fascia. Once the fascia is weakened it tears more just from the constant weight of the body putting a large force load on your feet. When your foot is injured it is worse.

When you have plantar fasciitis you feel a sharp pain at the heel usually when you first get up, evens out, and then gets worse throughout the day. Some only feel the pain when they’re jogging or walking. The problem is often diagnosed by palpation or pressing on the inside of the heel or inside of the arch. These are the portions of the fascia that are under the greatest stress and have more inflammation. Xrays are used to rule out other conditions such as stress fractures or a tumor.

This description should give you fairly accurate picture of what happens when your heel pain is caused by inflammation and tears of your fascia and is called plantar fasciitis. If you have more questions, give your podiatrist a call.

To your success at healthy aging.

Ruthan Brodsky