Treating Plantar Fasciitis Pain With Orthotics

What Exactly is Plantar Fasciitis?

When you look at the anatomy of your foot, you will find a band of tissue known as the plantar fascia. This is a thin ligament that will connect the front of the foot to the heel and it is meant to provide some good support for the arches. When this tendon starts to become tight and inflamed, it can be painful and may limit your mobility.

Many patients are going to notice that they have issues with pain on the heel or the bottom of the foot, especially if they have been inactive for some time. You may even notice some searing pain right when. You get up in the morning. Many times, it will clear up as you move around, but the condition can get worse and be hard to fight off.

Plantar fasciitis will start as an occasional pain, but it can get worse if you are not careful with treating it and giving the area of the foot a bit of a break. Talking with your doctor will help determine which solution is right for you.

Plantar Fasciitis Risk Factors

There are a few risk factors you need to know about if you would like to avoid having plantar fasciitis at all in your feet. Anyone can develop plantar fasciitis, some of the biggest risk factors will include:

Carrying Too Much Weight

Carrying more weight than you are used to can add a lot of stress to your body. It is common knowledge to lift with your legs, rather than your back, but the risk of hurting your feet is still there. Some things you can do to prevent foot injury due to carrying excess weight: asking for help, splitting the task up into small, more manageable tasks, or wearing custom orthotics. A mixture of all these is suggested.

Increasing Your Level of Activity

Much like carrying extra weight, increasing your activity level poses an increased risk of injury. Pushing your body farther than usual without increasing your activity level in increments can lead to some painful repercussions. Oftentimes, when we add stress to our feet and are not wearing the appropriate footwear, the wear and tear we see on the soles of our shoes will be mimicked on the bottoms of our feet.

Doing Repetitive Activities, Like running

Plantar fasciitis is a common overuse injury diagnosed in runners. Unfortunately, high-impact sports are not the only activities that may need to be avoided. Most would assume an alternative would be simply walking, however, you still have a high chance of developing plantar fasciitis with walking. Some alternatives to these repetitive activities are yoga or swimming, both of which allow your feet to stretch in ways that will not be damaging to your plantar fascia.

Having high arches

Much like flat feet, high arches can be developed at any point in our lives or could be inherited. High arches make the distribution of weight on the feet unbalanced, causing extra stress to be put on the plantar fascia.

Dealing with Calf Muscles That Are Too Tight

There are many causes of tight calf muscles such as overuse of the muscles, or even dehydration. Some to combat this are to give yourself a massage, stretch your calves and feet often, and replace your electrolytes. All of these are important for everyday health and should not only be practiced when exercising.

Some of these risk factors are ones you can fix if you take the time to ease into new activities, lose weight, or stretch out the muscles. Things like high arches are a bit harder to deal with and you may need a pair of custom orthotics to help take care of the foot.

How Can Orthotics Aid in Treating Plantar Fasciitis Pain?

One of the best treatments you can choose for your feet when you deal with plantar fasciitis is a pair of custom orthotics. You can make these with the help of your doctor to ensure they fit the unique shape of your foot, allowing you a lot of comfort and support at the same time. And it is noninvasive, which will help provide relief without surgery.

There are a lot of benefits that come with picking out a pair of orthotics with plantar fasciitis. Some of the benefits you will be able to enjoy include:

The Heel is Cushioned by Orthotics

A good pair of orthotics for plantar fasciitis will be designed to have a good amount of cushion in the help. The heel can go through a ton of abuse when you deal with plantar fasciitis and adding some cushion will ensure that it gets a bit of relief, absorbing some of the shocks of walking and running and giving the heel a break compared to walking without an orthotic at all.

Many orthotics for this condition will also have a deeper heel cup. This helps with the arch support and will make it easier to keep the heel in place, rather than letting the foot move around when you walk. The cushion and the heel cup will keep your foot right where you would like.

Orthotics Help Support Your Arches

When you have plantar fasciitis, you will likely have flat or low arches. This can pull on the tendon more than before, which can cause a good deal of pain. You may need some additional support in the arches to ensure you will avoid some of the pain.

Each patient has a different arch type that they need to support and you need to find one that is perfect for their needs. With a custom orthotic, you will be able to get the right arch in place to support the foot, without it being too high or too low for your foot. This distributes your weight across the foot and can make it more comfortable to move around.

Orthotics Maintain the Foot’s Position

If you do not wear shoes that are comfortable and fit well, then you are going to run into some issues with plantar fasciitis and other pain in the feet as well. When you wear orthotics, you will be able to keep the foot in proper alignment so that it will not slip and slide around in the shoe and cause a ton of issues.

When the foot is in place, you will be able to avoid issues with plantar fasciitis, can improve your posture, and ensure you will not have lower leg, hip, and back pain along the way. The orthotic can be designed to work with your needs, ensuring you will be able to get the foot in the right position for you.

Orthotics Help You Walk Properly

Another benefit of choosing to go with a pair of custom orthotics to help your plantar fasciitis is that these orthotics will provide you with some improvement to the way you walk. If you have a problem with your arches that is going to cause plantar fasciitis, then it can affect the way you walk, which can cause several issues throughout the body.

When the custom orthotic is introduced, it will help step in and provide you with some relief. It can lock the foot into the proper position, ensuring you are able to see improvement and distribute the weight through your foot, rather than having it fall just on the heel and nowhere else. This will relieve the pain and ensure you are as comfortable as possible.

Studies will also show that a good pair of custom orthotics will be able to reduce the amount of pain you will have from plantar fasciitis and can help you get better functioning of the foot. It can distribute the weight of walking throughout the whole foot, which takes the stress off the heels and can prevent and treat conditions like bunions and heel spurs.

Choosing Orthotics to Keep Your Feet Healthy

A good pair of orthotics will provide your feet with some of the protection they need against plantar fasciitis and some of the other conditions you may have in the foot. With a good pair of orthotics, you will be able to get rid of the pain and make your feet feel happier than ever before.

Our team will be able to work with you and ensure you get a good pair of custom orthotics that will fit the unique issues of your foot and can make the pain go away easier than ever before. Urthotics will send you a foot impression kit when you order your custom orthotics, making it simple to get treatment for your plantar fasciitis.