Plantar Fasciitis
Condition
The plantar fascia is a long, fibrous band of tissue that begins at the heel and travels forward under the arch. It then splints off and attaches under the metatarsal heads at the ball of your foot.
When you pronate excessively or your arch begins to fall, the plantar fascia takes the strain and tries to help your foot. Since it pulls at one location into the heel, you will normally feel the strain under the heel bone.
Symptoms
The fascia tears under the stress of pulling. The tears always heal with scar tissue, which easily becomes inflamed. This becomes an unpleasant cycle.
Chronic low grade stress to the fascia also may cause a heel spur to develop; this is the body’s way to try to strengthen the heel bone where the plantar fascia inserts. The pain most often directly under the heel, is most severe when you first get out of bed or after you sit for a long period of time. The pain may fade as you walk or run.
Check out our exercises and stretches to relieve pain from Plantar Fasciitis.