What is plantar fasciitis?
Plantar fasciitis is an inflammation of the area called “plantar fascia,” this area is a tissue we have in the feet, goes in front of the fingers, bone and the part of the metatarsus of the foot to the area of the calcaneus.
This area of our foot is the essential platform for actions such as walking, jogging, and so on. Besides, it is responsible for protecting our toes from excessive flexion and maintaining the plantar arch. Moreover, it is also responsible for controlling the energy produced by walk, absorbing the impacts of our feet against the ground.
When we talk about plantar fasciitis, we would like to highlight that it is a severe disease that you should not miss a day. And now, let’s see some beautiful things next.
Symptoms of plantar fasciitis
The symptoms to which we must pay attention to detect are to notice pain in the internal part of the heel, and this pain is especially noticeable in the morning during the night when not walking or exercising. You will notice that pain when you wake up and put your feet on the floor; in those first steps, you will notice it. Also, that pain usually accompanied by a redness of the affected area and a slight swelling of that same area.
If you are noticing these symptoms, do not wait for it anymore and go to a podiatrist.
Are the calcaneal spur and plantar fasciitis the same?
The answer is No. We should not confuse both ailments, formerly if it thought that suffering from spur was the fuze for the dreaded plantar fasciitis to appear.
The most recent studies indicate that this is not mainly the case; both ailments presented separately. The diagnosis and the treatment for both of them must be separated.
Who is plantar fasciitis affected primarily?
The main segment of the population affected by plantar fasciitis is mainly athletes. Those who in their usual sports practice include long runs on hard and uniform surfaces, evidently plantar fasciitis will not appear because they play sports. Still, the force the feet, if we have not previously conducted an in-depth examination of our footprint and a wrong choice of footwear, can precipitate the appearance of plantar fasciitis.
Within this group, the youngest athletes are the most exposed. It is crucial before undertaking a continuous sports activity that we go to a podiatrist and make us a study that determines how we step as well as wearing shoes integrated with insoles that prevent the syndrome of plantar fasciitis.
Fasciitis can also appear for other reasons, such as having a too pronounced arch of the foot, having flat feet, gaining weight suddenly, or having low-quality footwear that does not correctly support our foot.
In short, the youngest athletes are perhaps likely to suffer from plantar fasciitis. The other cases show that people aged 45 could also face this disease. From that, we should also pay attention to our feet and take exquisite care when choosing our footwear. It could save us from suffering alterations in the feet, but a wrong choice of these is the reason for the appearance of these alterations, in this case, plantar fasciitis.
Main causes of plantar fasciitis
As we have discussed previously, the continuity of sports practice that consists of racing on hard surfaces is a typical example of the appearance of plantar fasciitis, but there are also others.
- Plantar fasciitis can appear more easily with people from 45 years around.
- If you practice activity that requires an excess of tension in our feet such as acrobatic dance, ballet, you will face some troubles that result in plantar fasciitis.
- Excess weight could also be the cause of plantar fasciitis. The more we weigh, the more tension our feet must support. On the other hand, low muscular strength can lead to the appearance of plantar fasciitis.
- Another factor that you should focus on is having to work many hours standing. If you have to stand for many hours when your work, it is essential that you choose comfortable shoes to wear and prevent plantar fascia.
How do we prevent the onset of plantar fasciitis?
Let’s review some tips or good practices to avoid as much as possible the appearance of this annoying and painful condition.
These tips divided into two large groups of people, mainly between athletes and non-athletes, as we have discussed before, the causes of plantar fasciitis can be varied, now we will see how we can prevent its occurrence.
The first case is you are an athlete,
If you are professional athletes such as soccer players, tennis players, and so on, we will bring you some useful information below.
You go to the gym to strengthen the muscles of the chest or biceps, with your feet you must do the same, our feet are not free of muscles that is why we have to strengthen them, primarily if you practice a sport such as athletics or practice dance where the feet suffer many direct impacts.
Next, Choosing your sports shoes correctly, it is not enough to go to any large store and choose the cheapest shoes or those that are on sale at that time. If your idea is to run continuously and you let your feet to a large workload for a long time, it highly recommended that you purchase appropriate shoes as soon as possible. Moreover, you need to get some advice from an expert to get your right shoes and help you reduce the pain in your feet.
If you like to go jogging or are training to compete, it is better to distribute that load between several days. You have to do it because it could make you relax the muscles of your feet, and you will be preventing the appearance of plantar fasciitis.
The most important thing that you should pay a visit to a podiatrist to analyze your way of stepping before you start training hard.
In brief, we highly suggest that tennis players should select the best tennis shoes for plantar fasciitis to prevent risky injuries as well as perform very well during your play on the court.
If you are not an athlete,
Do not abuse high-heeled. If you abuse the use of shoes in which the inclination of the plantar area is excessive. It can cause some overload of that area and lead to plantar fasciitis or other types of problems.
We do not say that you do not wear heels. We only recommend that you use them with intelligence. We recommend that the ideal heel should be 3 to 4 cm, which gets a great rest in all the muscle groups that affect the tread. Also, with that small height, you will be able to stretch the Achilles tendon.
On the other hand, the use of proper heel is especially important if you have a job where you spend many hours standing, or you must walk a lot on hard surfaces such as asphalt. Moreover, the use of flat shoes can prevent the appearance of plantar fasciitis.
Last but not least, whether you are an athlete or not, you should grab high-quality footwear that protects you from injuries such as plantar fasciitis.
How to diagnose plantar fasciitis?
Your syndrome depended on your podiatrist, who will decide or not to prescribe orthopedic templates. However, we would show you that the diagnosis is quite simple to detect.
Except for specific cases, it is not necessary to take x-rays or ultrasound. The diagnosis will be concluded based on an examination of the affected area for redness or inflamed areas. Therefore, the doctor will identify the plantar area of the foot from findings related to bone abnormalities.
How long can plantar fasciitis last?
Plantar fasciitis is a medical condition with a long healing process. It generates a lot of frustration for the patient since the pain in the foot can become so intense and limits us from taking a step.
The estimated recovery time for a full recovery is around ten months. Thus, we think you should go to the podiatrist as soon as possible.
What types of shoes do you need to purchase to prevent plantar fasciitis?
We recommend that those shoes are essential items that can help us keep our feet healthy and away from possible injuries or the appearance of plantar fasciitis.
The comfortable shoes made from medium/high quality will be beneficial for you a lot. You should remember that the inappropriate footwear made with materials that do not perspire will make our feet sweating more.
Next, make sure that the shoes you choose are not entirely flat and obviously that the heel does not exceed four centimeters in height. We suggest you should grab shoes, boots, or ankle boots with a flat sole and an interior wedge of 3 or 4 cm since it can be an excellent option for you to experience the game ideally. Why we highlight this? You know it provides the perfect balance between safety and helps us relieve foot pain.
Lastly, we believe that you can avoid this disease by taking pretty quality shoes. It is a partner, as well as the doctor when you experience it on your court.
As for brands, some famous brands such as Adidas, Nike, K-Swiss, and so forth. Most of them meet all the technical points as well as fit your style.
If this post has served you or do you think it can help a friend a lot, we hope you will share it on your social networks, thank you very much!
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