3 Things You Probably Did Not Know About Plantar Fasciitis

1.Having a heel spur does not mean you have plantar fasciitis. Link here.
In this study, 50% of patients with plantar fasciitis have heel spurs. It also shows that 20% of people with NO heel pain DO have heel spurs. What all this really means is that a heel spur may develop due to the dysfunction of the entire foot over a period of time. This is why focusing on the dysfunction is much more important than focusing on expensive imaging.
2.High-load strength training may aid in a quicker reduction in pain and improvements in function, compared to stretching. Link here.. This study shows a positive effect of both stretching and strengthening, and a progressive approach to be best overall.

3. Chiropractic adjustments can improve foot alignment and therefore help decrease symptoms of plantar fasciitis. Excessive foot and ankle pronation (loss of medial arch) is associated with plantar fasciitis. Correction of this abnormal foot posture will improve foot function, and decrease the stress forces that lead to irritation of the plantar fascia.

You may be wondering why you should see a Chiropractor for plantar fasciitis. This is because a good chiropractor can see the connection between plantar fasciitis and low back pain. We can also see the connection betwen your knee pain last month, and your current hip pain. Going to a specialist may seem like a good idea, but they tend to put on blinders to what is going on in the rest of your body. There is no muscle, joint, or nerve that works in isolation. That is why it makes no sense to isolate your focus to just one area. It is often the case that the most dysfunctional areas are NOT painful. That's why you need someone with vision, and experience.

STOP THE POP!

There is much confusion around "popping" your spine. At least once per week, a new patient will ask "Is it OK to pop my back?" It is a fair question. It requires a fair explanation.

It would be wise to start with defining what exactly "popping" means. This noise happens when a stretching of a joint creates a vacuum. The vacuum pulls out gases from the synovial fluid. The release of gas creates a pop. This is called a cavitation. This is similar to what happens when you open a wine bottle (the cork-top kind, not the cheap screw cap). Improved range of motion is often felt immediately afterward. That is unless something goes wrong. And it could.

Stretching the joint to get a pop and re-aligning the joint are two different things. I can pop my own knuckles, but that does not necessarily re-align them. A real Chiropractic adjustment requires an assessment first. It requires that misalignments be identified before the adjustment, and checked afterward to see if any change occurred. Without this essential information, the chances of the joints moving in a "good" direction are minimal. Here is another curveball- the areas that are in pain are not always the areas that need to be adjusted!

Once in awhile, I see someone who has "popped" a joint in a bad direction, and they are stuck. The alignment is now worse, and sometimes painful. However, it more often happens that the person has popped their back numerous times a day, and have done so for years or even decades. When this happens, the joint tissues get stretched. It becomes difficult if not impossible to achieve any adjustment until the person STOPS THE POP. This patient is usually very disappointed on the first visit, because any further "popping" is unlikely.

It is surprising to me how many DIY videos there are on Youtube for those willing to try, but these are quite ridiculous. I will say that some of these movements are good as stretches. But there is a big difference between going for a stretch and going for a pop. If you are truly trying to stretch, and you feel a pop, there is no need to fear. Unless, of course, it was a button that popped off your clothes.