What causes plantar fasciitis?
When it comes to plantar fasciitis, millions of people are left wondering how and why the pain started. And while we all wish we had a crystal ball to tell us the answer, you may be able to get some clues from your shoes.
Your shoes can tell you a lot about how you’re walking, and how it relates to arch pain or plantar fasciitis.
While plantar fasciitis is often caused by overuse or repetitive motion, it can also be caused by a gait abnormality known as pronation. Pronation occurs when the foot rolls inward when walking or running, placing extra stress on the plantar fascia, the band of tissue that runs along the bottom of the foot. This can lead to inflammatory changes and pain in the heel and arch.
Look at your shoes to analyze how you walk.
When you look at the back of the shoe, it should always be level. If your shoe is worn on the inside, you pronate. If it is worn on the outside, you supinate. Wear on the inside, or pronation, is the leading cause of plantar fasciitis. It tightens the muscle, and causes pain. Correcting pronation is often an important part of alleviating symptoms and preventing recurrence.
To correct this, visit a podiatrist to get your gait, or the way you walk, analyzed and your shoes analyzed. Also, always wear a different shoe when you walk than when you run, because those are two different patterns of gait.
In order to treat plantar fasciitis when you’re active, you probably want to use a combination of stretching and some level of insole or custom orthotic.
However, while at rest, there are not many solutions out there besides anti-inflammatories. One way to help relieve your plantar fasciitis long term is to use Archmaker, a foot splint designed to be worn at night, or while resting. Archmaker stretches the top of the foot, and completely releases the plantar fascia muscle. Wearing Archmaker for 4 hours a day for 4 weeks, creates the muscle memory needed to help relieve plantar fasciitis long term.
So, if you are prone to pronation, here is your plantar fasciitis action plan.
- Get your gait analyzed and have a podiatrist help you find a shoe or orthotic to help adjust the way you walk.
- Use Archmaker while at rest or while you sleep to relieve the tightness in the plantar fascia muscle
To get Archmaker visit www.archmaker.net