Footnotes / Blog

Plantar Fasciitis is the most common cause of heel pain.

• It is an inflammation of the ligament that attaches to your heel bone and supports the arch of the foot.
• Strain on this ligament can create tiny tears that lead to moderate to severe pain and swelling.
• Patients often report an onset of pain with the first step out of bed in the morning.

Diagnosis

During your initial exam, a doctor will ask you questions about the heel pain symptoms you are experiencing. They will manually exam the heel to find the specific location of the pain. They will most likely watch you walk to see if your “gait” could be contributing to the problem. Xrays will be taken to rule out any bony pathology that may also be causing symptoms.

Treatment

The goals are to alleviate the inflammation in the plantar fascia, and allow the tiny tears in the ligament to heal. The doctors at Innovative Foot and Ankle will review effective stretching exercises and icing techniques. Anti-inflammatory pain medication may also be prescribed.

If pain is not relieved with the above treatments, a steroid injection will be offered to the patient. The local injection will decrease pain, swelling, and inflammation in the heel.

Physical therapy and supportive foot orthotic inserts are also conservative treatment options. EPAT (Extracorporeal Pulse Activation Treatment) is occasionally utilized in an office setting to break up scar tissue and inflammatory changes within the plantar fascia.

Surgery is occasionally necessary to treat chronic cases of plantar fasciitis. A plantar fascia release would be performed in the operating room under anesthesia to take tension off of the ligament. Doctors will attempt all other treatment methods before discussing taking a patient to surgery.

If you have heel pain that just won’t go away, visit a licensed podiatrist in one our four New Jersey offices in Kenilworth, Bayonne, Little Ferry and Montclair. Dr. Kaufman, Dr. Rallatos, Dr. Visperas, Dr. Gonzales and Dr. Anthony are all well-trained in treating plantar fasciitis and would be glad to help.