Here at the clinic, we see plenty of patients suffering from heel pain. They almost always have a similar story:

“I have an extremely painful sensation right on the heel of my foot”

“My pain is always there in the mornings, and after I do any activity!”

“I’ve had to stop my running because I just can’t bare the pain”

“The pain seems to ease as I move but it kills me immediately after”

“If I sit at my desk for an hour or so, then get up to move I can’t walk with the pain in my heel!”

All of these complaints are those you would expect from somebody suffering from Plantar Fasciosis. You may have heard of this frustrating condition before – especially if you are a runner or work on your feet a lot.

In this weeks column, I hope to give you the correct and most up to date information on this condition and how to treat it.

What is the Plantar Fascia?

The Plantar Fascia is a flat band of tissue that connects your heel bone to your toes and supports the arch of your foot.

What is Plantar Fasciosis? Is it the same as Plantar Fasciitis?

Plantar Fasciosis is an overload injury of the Plantar Fascia. It is degeneration of your Plantar Fascia. This condition has historically been called Plantar Fasciitis because it was believed that Plantar Fascia inflammation was the principle underlying cause.

Plantar Fasciosis is a more accurate name for this condition because it involves degeneration of your Plantar Fascia, not inflammation.

Why me? The causes of Plantar Fasciosis

It is very common in runners due to the repeated stress being placed on the fascia – can sometimes be linked to poor running technique but more often than not the process of doing too much too soon is enough to overload the fascia.

Plantar Fasciosis is very common among beginner runners who might go from doing no running at all straight into a 5km run.

This is too drastic of a change for the body to handle in such a small space of time and the plantar fascia isn’t used to this amount of stress and becomes irritated and painful.

The One Thing You Should Be Doing

Before I go into detail about all the different treatment options available that don’t work, let me tell you the ONE thing that has been proven to provide long-term relief of this frustrating condition.

We need to treat this injury how we would treat a tendon injury – reintroducing load to it.

Loading has to be gradual, as too much too soon can only aggravate things, I have attached a video below with some later stage exercises you can do at home to get long term relief from your heel pain.

Common Treatment Options – What Works And What Doesn’t

Steroid Injections

Whilst steroid injections can provide symptom relief, this is usually only a short-term solution.

A 2012 study published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine showed that steroid injections would give temporary relief to one out of three patients – and this relief is unlikely to last beyond 4 weeks.

Steroid injections can also be dangerous – they can lead to cell death and a potential rupture of the Plantar Fascia.