If waking up in the mornings were not bad enough, sometimes your foot hurts when you place it on the ground. The next few minutes are very painful as well. You try to walk with the pain hoping it will go away, but it does not easily.
This is usually a case of plantar fasciitis. Are you afraid that you may have to go to surgery for this? Don’t be. Apparently, this condition is so common and harmless that it goes away itself after six to eighteen months. However, if it does not then the case may be different needing more serious treatment. Then come in our blog and search the best way to treat plantar fasciitis. Then come in our blog and search the best way to treat plantar fasciitis.
But, if it actually is a case of normal Plantar Fasciitis then we are here to help you get rid of it as soon as possible. You will know about the best way to treat Plantar Fasciitis and a few more ways to make it even more effective. However, if home remedies do not work in the long term, you will need to consult your doctor.
What exactly is Plantar Fasciitis?
There is a Plantar Fascia ligament in your foot that connects the toes to the heel. Apparently, you can overuse, strain or inflame this ligament in many ways. When such a thing occurs, you feel pain either on the underside of your foot or sharp pain in your heel. This condition is called Plantar Fasciitis.
Do not worry much because it does not put your life at risk, or your ability to walk. You will just feel a bit of pain and that’s it.
The Diagnosis
It is very easy for the doctor to diagnose a condition of Plantar Fasciitis. Apparently, all the doctor needs to do is carry out a physical examination. The location of your pain will tell if the condition is Plantar Fasciitis or not.
However, the doctor may give you an MRI and X-Ray test to confirm that there is nothing harmful in your foot causing the pain. It is just to be safe.
Because the pain may result from fractures, nerve damage, and other conditions as well. That is why do not be afraid of the doctor asks you to take these tests.
The Best Way to Treat Plantar Fasciitis: The Regular Home Remedies
- The RICE Method.
Since it is a pain related to the ligament that is not torn or damaged- the best and most harmless way to treat is at home using the RICE method. It won’t cost you anything either. This method includes the following steps:
Rest: Any harmless condition requires a few days to go away as well. Thus, go easy on your foot for a few days and the pain will reduce by itself.
Ice: Whether it is inflammation or just overuse causing the pain, put ice on the affected area for twenty minutes. It should soothe the area for a while. When you do this regularly, the pain will just vanish one day.
Compress: You can use a soft and clean wrap to compress the area of the swell.
Elevate: Blood flow actually solves a lot of things- so keep the foot on an elevated location so the blood flows easily throughout it.
- Exercise: Treatment and Prevention.
If you want to treat this condition quite permanently and naturally then you may have to choose the hard path- exercise. Apparently, even though the ligament is strained, you will have to make it move more and be a bit more flexible for growth. So, it is best for you to do stretching exercises so that it works in the specific ligament.
This will shake up the ligament. Even though it may be painful at first, it gets easier and better with time. Here are a few examples of the exercises you can do.
Various kinds of stretches: Regularly stretch your calf and plantar fascia. You can sit on a chair while doing this. Feel comfortable and do not overdo it. Rolling stretch may feel even easier and more effective for this.
Foot Flexes: Sometimes it is better to attack the are of pain directly. You can use an elastic stretch band to put pressure on the affected area.
Marble Pickups: You will feel like you are playing a game rather than exercising with a marble. Apparently, you can focus on challenging yourself when you do this to work on your foot easily.
- Medication: The conditions take it time to go away but you can deal with the pain and inflammation easily. Take pain-killer medicines like Ibuprofen to makes things better. However, make sure you consult your doctor.
- Shoe Changing: Shoe changing is one of the ways to release this problem.
- Massage: This is a comfortable way to deal with pain. You can massage your foot yourself or make someone else do it. Whichever it is, make sure you apply ample pressure on the affected area.
- Physical Therapy: You can take professional therapies like with water, stone, etc. To relieve the condition. But, you can also expect them to be costlier. Acupuncture is also quite helpful in such cases.
- Extracorporeal Shockwave Therapy: Sometimes the easiest way to deal with the condition is to expose the ligament to shockwaves of sound. This will stir it up and make things easier for you, relieving both the pain and condition.
- Surgery: If nothing helps at all, the last resort is surgery. Your doctor will know what to do and will give you options by looking at the test results. However, this should not be a very serious surgery.
In conclusion
Even though you searched for the treatment online, we are not saying that you will go limp because of this condition at some point. You won’t. The pain may get worse and the condition may reappear again.
This is why you should take preventive measures like wearing shoe pads, not walking on hard surfaces, not overusing your foot. Go easy on your feet and take care of it. It is inexpensive and easy to treat Plantar Fasciitis, but make sure you do it right.