Many patients who experience heel pain assume that it’s nothing to worry about and will go away with rest and less activity. Unfortunately, in some cases the heel pain is a warning signal from the body that it is injured. Foot malformations such as overpronation or low foot arches can lead to more acute conditions such as plantar fasciitis. This often debilitating heel pain can be treated in a surgical center as an outpatient.

Flat Feet Can Be a Biomechanical Issue

As found by the American Podiatric Medical Association (APMA), plantar fasciitis can be caused by faulty biomechanics and walking motion. This can include overpronation and low foot arches, for example. In cases when the lower body biomechanics are out of sync with the rest of the body, excessive weight and impact are put on structures of the foot that are not meant to absorb those pressures. For example, running on a hard surface or even being over your ideal weight can all be contributing factors for heel pain.

Therapy For Plantar Fasciitis Sometimes Requires Surgery

A surgical option called Instep Plantar Fasciotomy is one plantar fasciitis treatment that is done under ankle block anesthesia (patient is awake but the foot is numbed). The plantar fascia is a ligament of tissue responsible for the extreme pain caused by this condition. The surgeon opens the heel through a small incision made above the affected area of the heel. The fluid-filled area and damaged tissue is taken out from the inflamed heel tissues. Once the incision is sutured, a walking cast is required for an estimated 4-6 weeks, depending upon how fast the person heals.

Foot Overpronation and Flat Feet Also Result in a Non-Surgical Flat Feet

A type of cutting edge technology being used today to heal foot conditions is with waves of low level sound. Known as extracorporeal shock wave therapy (ESWT), this solution aims to use low-dose sound waves to destroy the affected tissuesin the heel. It sounds counterintuitive, but it isn’t. The injuring of these tissues in low amounts actually evokes the body’s healing response and cures the body of the painful issue. In a 2004 study, it took eight-hundred study participants about 8 weeks to heal completely with about 85% success.

Therapy For Plantar Fasciitis with Less Down Time

Finally, endoscopic plantar fascia removals are becoming more commonly used because of their short healing duration. In this medical treatment, the foot is numbed with an ankle block while the patient is conscious. Given that some physicians may prefer to have the patient unconscious, that is also a valid way to conduct the operation with reduced stress to the patient. One-fourth inch cuts are made in the sides of the heel to access the affected regions. A camera is used to help the physician to identify the plantar fascia ligament. After it has been found, the surgeon fixes the problems inside and closes the wound.

Therapy For Plantar Fasciitis is Better Today than Ever Before

Statistics show that surgery is needed in about five percent of plantar fasciitis cases, it’s good to be up to date on the procedures that surgeons are using today. Continuing with PT (physical therapy) is one of the best things patients can do after undergoing any of these procedures. Massages, exercises, and whirlpool therapy are just some of the many procedures that can assist. For patients with walking gait deformities and biomechanical issues such as over-pronation or low foot arches, supportive orthotics insoles are advised to halt the return of this painful condition.

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Tags: flat feet, heel pain, overpronation, plantar fasciitis, pronation

This entry was posted on Tuesday, March 16th, 2010 at 3:28 am and is filed under Trampolines. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.