How To Deal With Foot Pain Caused By Plantar Fasciitis

You’ve probably felt crippling pain in your heel or arch and a common culprit is plantar fasciitis (PLAN-ter fash-ee-EYE-tus). It's an irritation of the plantar tendon, a clustering of microscopic tears at the cellular level causing tenderness and discomfort when you walk or strike your foot or heel to the ground.

It's estimated that this condition affects over 2 million Americans every year and 10% of Americans will experience plantar fasciitis at some point in their lives.

Where is the plantar tendon?

The plantar tendon is located on the center of the bottom of the foot, attaching the heel to the toes, and the plantar fascia covers the bottom of the foot. Fascia is the netting that covers every muscle and every fiber of every muscle, and can often restrict proper muscle, ligament, tendon or connective tissue function.

What causes this kind of foot pain?

More common causes are:

Our bodies are like rubber bands; the tighter a rubber band gets on one end, the more it will pull on the other end. And if our fascia becomes stiff, the more we feel that sticky stiffness in our bodies.

So what I'm saying is: if your hips are tight, your feet will react, and if your feet are tight, your hips will react, and in the middle are our poor knees ... do you see where I’m going with this?

How foot pain can cause neck pain: 

The toe bones (tarsals) are connected to the plantar tendon, which connects to the heel, which connects to the achillies tendon, which connects to the hamstring, which connects to the sacral tuberous ligament (a ligament connecting the sit bones to the sacrum), which connects to the multifidus (a short muscle spanning 1-3 vertebra), which connects to the erectors (muscles running from sacrum to the base of the skull), which connect to the occipital bone (base of skull).

So your foot issue could be causing your neck issue, or your hip issue. Or hip tightness is causing shoulder pain or heel pain.

8 ways to soothe and remedy foot pain: 

1. Take off your shoes. Yes, I know everyone else says keep them on, but you haven’t allowed you feet do work in the way they are designed to. Ever met someone from a third world country who has plantar fasciitis?

2. Consider a reflexology appointment. Assessing the feet (and sometimes calves), pressure points and areas of interest much like a massage session would.

3. Drink more water. When our body is dehydrated, our fascia becomes sticky and restricted.

4. Learn how to properly stand on your feet. Your feet are aching for you to listen to them, posture starts at your feet.

5. Taper down. If your goal is to run bare foot and you’ve been wearing highly supportive shoes, you need to taper down slowly, find someone who is educated in this process like a chi running coach who can safely guide you.

6. Try rolling. Some ideas: Mayo Fasica Release (rolling), invest in a foam roller, or an acuball, and start rolling your feet and hips.

7. Open your hips. Tight hips can often be an issue to foot pain. Spend a few minutes each day stretching your hips to give your feet a step in the right direction.

8. Join a yoga class. Not all yoga is created equal, but do your homework and ask the instructor if he or she is knowledgeable on this subject and go from there.