Plantar fasciitis is a painful chronic aseptic inflammation of the bottom of the foot, with the pain often located at the heel of the foot. It is also known as metatarsal fasciitis and is a relatively common form of foot pain. It is commonly known as “heel pain”. How is it caused? When wearing high heels for a long time, there is a layer of tendon-like tissue on the bottom of our feet, which is medically known as the plantar fascia. If you often wear high heels, including boots, the heel is elevated for a long time, easily lead to contracture of the plantar fascia, which will cause chronic inflammation, when the activity, it is possible to pull the contracted fascia, and produce pain. This painful pull often occurs especially in the morning when you wake up and walk on the ground with bare feet. Increased weight, or excessive weight bearing, is also likely to result in plantar fasciitis. Normally, there is a layer of fatty tissue, called a fat pad, underneath the heel bone and plantar fascia, which protects the heel bone and fascia. Weight gain or excessive weight bearing, especially when walking more or standing for a long time in shoes with a shallow and unstable heel, will increase the pressure on this layer of tissue, and over time it will suffer damage and cause plantar fasciitis. People who walk and climb stairs more often, who stand for long periods of time, and who like to run and exercise are also prone to plantar fasciitis. It often occurs when the mode and amount of exercise is changed, such as when the distance and frequency of running is increased. Plantar fasciitis is also likely to occur if you run on uneven surfaces on a regular basis. In addition, when your athletic shoes are badly worn, especially the heel soles, which do not provide adequate protection for your heels, you may also develop this disease. People with foot deformities or foot disease are at higher risk of developing plantar fasciitis than the general population. People with congenital arch abnormalities, such as flat feet or low arches, have collapsed arches and are more likely to develop plantar fasciitis than normal arches because of the pressure on the plantar fascia. What are the symptoms of plantar fasciitis? The most important symptoms of plantar fasciitis are: pain on the bottom of the heel when walking; significant pressure points on the bottom of the foot. Severe patients may experience pain even when standing or even at rest. Typical pain often occurs in the early morning when walking on the ground after first waking up. The pain is sometimes more intense, mainly because when you sleep, your feet naturally relax, causing the plantar fascia to shorten and relax, while walking immediately after waking up can cause significant stretching of the plantar fascia, causing pain. When you are asleep, you usually do not feel discomfort on the bottom of your feet. When you wake up, you usually take a few more steps and the pain will improve after you move around. But sometimes, when you sit down and do not move, rest for a while and then walk, it will arise again. On the bottom of the foot near the heel, you can usually press on a distinct painful spot. Sometimes the pressure pain is more intense and persistent. How is plantar fasciitis diagnosed? For a definitive diagnosis of plantar fasciitis, we recommend a visit to our clinic. I will determine this based on whether you have tenderness in the sole of your foot; the location of the tenderness; and whether there is pulling pain when you stretch your affected foot. If necessary, a heel x-ray will be performed to rule out the presence of a heel spur, and an MRI will help detect the presence of soft tissue edema, such as fascial edema. What to do if you have plantar fasciitis?1. Give your affected foot adequate rest. In severe attacks, you will need to minimize foot activity, including walking, climbing stairs, etc. 2. Your doctor may recommend that you take oral anti-inflammatory medications, such as aspirin and ibuprofen. These medications can help reduce pain and inflammation. patients over 65 years old, without a doctor’s advice, take such non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs generally but 7 days. Plantar rest and relaxation on an ice pack several times a day for a few minutes at a time will help. 3, increase plantar padding soft. Can be at work activities, try to wear sports shoes. At the same time, you can use heel pads to protect the heel. Heel pad use need to pay attention to: both feet at the same time to wear, to ensure that the left and right force is even. Very helpful for overweight adults and the elderly.4. For patients with foot abnormalities, they are prone to disease and particularly prone to recurrence after treatment. It is recommended to increase the use of foot orthopedic insoles or orthopedic shoes while actively rehabilitating the foot to protect the arch and prevent recurrence. A good plantar support usually needs to be personalized based on plantar stress analysis. Such orthopedic insoles are particularly helpful for patients with flat feet or low arched feet.5. For patients with significant morning pain, it is recommended to wear an ankle dorsiflexion support to immobilize the affected foot while sleeping. This allows the calf muscles and plantar fascia to be lightly stretched to prevent excessive plantar relaxation, which can cause plantar fascia contracture to reduce morning pain symptoms. 6. If the pain is not relieved according to the methods described above, it is recommended that you go to the hospital for professional physical therapy. Individualized physiotherapy helps you to fully stretch the plantar fascia, strengthen the calf muscles, and stabilize the ankle joint and heel.7. Using adhesive support tape or intramuscular patch to fix and protect the plantar aspect of the foot and relieve muscle and fascia tension in the foot and calf is also a popular treatment method. The patching method can consult a sports specialist.8.Personally, I do not recommend local injection of hormones, local seal treatment. Local seal pain relief effect is more significant, but can not fundamentally solve the disease, but also easy to relapse. Unless you need sports or competition, you can consider temporary use.