Stone In your shoe?

Stone In your shoe?

There is a frustrating condition stalling the jogging career of many garden variety runners out there. You may even have experienced it yourself, without even knowing it! Some people say it feels like they have a stone in their shoe, or a bruise under their heel. We are talking about Plantar Fasciitis.

"Plantar" refers to the sole of your foot, and "Fascia" is the tissue that forms the arch. ‘itis’ added on to the end of a word generally infers inflammation is involved.

There are many small bones in our feet. They allow our feet to mould to the ground underneath us, helping with our balance. The bones form an arch, which provides shock absorption when our foot hits the ground. It is the job of the fascia, a strong, fibrous band, to maintain the arch. As your foot hits the ground, tension is placed on the fascia, as it resists the force of the foot flattening.

What causes Plantar Fasciitis?
When the foot is given too much load than it has the tolerance for, the fascia becomes overloaded. This may be from increasing walking or running volume too quickly, a change in footwear, or starting a new activity.
The most vulnerable point in the fascia is where it attaches on to the undersurface of the heel bone (calcaneus). This attachment point becomes tender and inflamed, and can be felt when you walk or jog on it. Often sufferers report that the pain is worst first thing in the morning, as soon as they get out of bed. By staying off the fascia for hours in bed, the tissue can tighten, and the inflammation has a chance to build up. Once you are moving, the pain may ease off somewhat.
Some people think this condition is the result of a bone spur. Actually, if a spur is present, it is usually the effect rather than the cause.

How is Plantar Fasciitis treated?
Firstly, the foot needs "relative rest". Obviously you will still need to walk on your feet to get around, but you need to scale back the impact activity you are doing. Instead of walking and running, switch to swimming or bike riding.
Taping the arch of the foot takes a lot of load off the fascia, and can give quite instant relief to most people. A physiotherapist will need to show you how to do this. Instead of the fascia taking the load when you step onto it, the tape will, allowing the fasica time to settle.