Plantar Fasciitis
Do you or someone you know suffer from plantar fasciitis? If so, then you know how debilitating that kind of pain can be. On the surface of it, what is happening is the muscles and fascia on the bottom of the foot have gotten tight and inflamed and it can REALLY hurt. The typical medical treatments include trying to stretch the tissue, ice it, use anti-inflammatory medication to reduce the inflammation, and my ‘favorite’ (sarcasm alert), the use of orthotics to restrict the ability of the foot to, well, be a foot.
The problem is that none of those things address WHY the tissue has become tight and inflamed. In every single case I’ve see of plantar fascitis in our clinic, there is a postural imbalance in the body that is causing one or both feet to dysfunctionally interact with the ground. I’ve never once seen a proper, normal, healthy and functional foot strike in someone with plantar fascitis. Not once. Until you address why the foot is being put into a dysfunctional position, the problem will persist. Put a bit differently, in almost every case I’ve seen, the foot is not the culprit, it’s the victim.
To start making this better, we need to get the foot, ankle, knee and hip talking to each other again and we need to restore both strength and mobility to the foot itself. This video will show you 3 simple ecises to start that process. If your feet are hurting, give them a try!
Explore posts in the same categories: EgoscueTags: bunions, foot pain, morton's neuroma, plantar fascitis
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Ramblings from the Hill Country 
March 6, 2016 at 6:40 pm
Thank you for an excellent video. I tried the exercises today but my feet were so painful I only managed 10 circles with the first exercise. I am really hoping for relief as I have had painful feet for tha last 8 years and the pain has stopped me doing most activities.
March 6, 2016 at 7:16 pm
Hi Irma, start with just doing the first ecise, the plantar facsia stretch. Do that twice a day for a week, then try adding the others. If you can only do 5-10 circles on that one, no problem. Just do what you can do. Feel free to email us at the clinic with questions.
July 6, 2016 at 8:32 am
Hello Rick,
I have just had an X-ray of my feet and my doctor has diagnosed osteoarthritis. My feet are full of arthritic Spurs and the bones on the top of my feet have collapsed and toes are drawing inwards (sort of pigeon toed) – although I think they have always turned in. My question is – can the above exercises help or should I do something different? I can do the circles and point flex no problem, but I struggle to do the interlacing of fingers with toes. Doc suggested orthotics and has prescribed Piascledine capsules. I would appreciate your opinion.
Kind regards
July 6, 2016 at 10:49 am
Irma, given the level of degenerative change in your feet, I’d STRONGLY recommend getting individualized therapy instead of doing more generic things from the Internet or Pete’s books. We have some serious work to do here that goes beyond the scope of what these kinds of routines are designed to address. If you live driving distance from an Egoscue clinic, go there. If not, call our clinic at 512-527-0030 and ask to speak to a therapist. A third of our therapy is now done by Skype so we can help you no matter where you live as long as you have a reasonably decent Internet connection and a device with a webcam. We need to assess you and figure out what your body is doing as a unit that is causing your feet to interact with the ground this dysfunctionally. This can change for the better but we need to get to work asap.