The plantar fascia is a long band of fibrous tissue on the bottom of the foot that extends from the heel to the bases of the toes. It supports the joints, bones, and muscles under the foot during mid-step and creates a rigid lever for push-off. It maintains the longitudinal arch of the foot.
Plantar fasciitis is an inflammation of the plantar fascia. It is usually chronic with an insidious beginning, although occasionally a runner might develop sudden onset.
Repetitive trauma produces minute tears in the plantar fascia near its attachment to the heel. The body's attempt to repair these tears leads to chronic inflammation and resulting pain.
Runners alter how they run in order to run through plantar fascial pain: shortening stride length, foot striking with toes first rather than heel first, and running on the outside border of the foot are among the alterations. These adaptations may lead to other problems, however, including knee pain, hip pain, back pain, or other foot pain.
Are you at risk? Here are some factors that might lead to plantar fasciitis:
- Increases in mileage over a short time
- Intense workouts (interval training on a hard surface wearing a spiked shoe)
- Sudden increases in hill running
- Increased frequency of workouts
- Running on surfaces with either too much or too little resilience (concrete, asphalt, grass, sand, and so on)
- Running on banked or crowned surfaces
- Inadequate recovery time
Lack of strength and flexibility in the ankle and foot can also predispose a runner to plantar fasciitis. Without strong calf muscles, a runner may not get the proper propulsion during push-off.
Other things that can contribute to plantar fasciitis include flat feet and high arches. In the runner with high arched feet, there will be decreased motion where the ankle attaches to the foot, and this results in decreased ability of the foot to absorb the force of ground contact.
At foot strike, the heel remains rolled outward, and the longitudinal arch remains rigid throughout the mid-stance phase of running. Stress is passed through the outer border of the foot and knee.
Deficiencies in running shoes may also contribute to plantar fasciitis. In addition, the following may cause problems:
- Too loose a heel counter or too flat a shoe resulting in excessive rolling in
- Too flexible a shoe allowing excessive toe flexion and increased plantar fascial tension
- Too tight a toe box or too rigid a sole restricting movement at the metatarsal toe joint
- Worn-out shoes lacking shock absorption or the ability to mechanically align the foot
- Absence of good arch supports, causing the arch to flatten
How can you prevent plantar fasciitis?
Factors which can be controlled include training progression, environmental factors, shoes, and strength and flexibility exercises. Terrain is also an important factor in training. Running 30 minutes on hills is very different from running 30 minutes on flat surfaces in terms of the forces on the legs and feet.
Work up gradually to increase your running time on hills. Also lean forward when running downhill. If you run on a banked or crowned surface, vary the direction you run in so you alternate which leg is higher and which leg is lower on the bank.
If you know concrete or asphalt is causing you discomfort, try running on a cinder or composite track. If you are going on vacation and are not used to running on sand or grass, don't spend your whole vacation doing it.
Good running shoes are vital to injury prevention. Shoe technology continues to improve and change rapidly.
Buy your shoes from a reputable dealer who knows runners and his stock well. Your shoe dealer should be able to guide you in choosing proper shoes for flat feet or high-arched feet and your particular running style.
If you're a likely plantar fasciitis victim, stretching and flexibility exercises for the hamstring/buttocks and Achilles/calf muscles are critical. There are three types of stretching: ballistic, slow, and dynamic.
Ballistic (or bouncing) stretching occurs when you repeatedly do a quick stretch followed by a quick contraction. This can result in muscles tears and is no longer a recommended technique for stretching.
Slow stretching involves going down to a point at which you feel tightness in the muscle and then push a little more and hold for 30-60 seconds. While a recommended method of stretching, it can result in thinning and weakening the tendon attached to the muscle.
Author Resource:-
Jack R. Landry has worked as a podiatrist and foot surgeon for the past 14 years and written hundreds of articles about various foot conditions including plantar fasciitis.
![[Valid RSS feed]](http://www.massagebyben.com/articles/images/icon_Rss.png "XML Feed For RSS"){kind=icon}
Category Rss Feed
Print This Article
Add To Favorites 