Common Signs of Plantar Fasciitis and What Steps to Take Next

Plantar fasciitis is one of the most common — and painful — foot and heel issues. Here, we look at some of the signs and complications of plantar fasciitis and how we can help you move forward without pain.

When it comes to painful foot conditions, plantar fasciitis ranks among the most common and affects millions of Americans. By the numbers, plantar fasciitis occurs in about 10% of the general population, and the condition sends about 2 million people to seek medical help each year in the United States.

As musculoskeletal experts who treat patients from head to toe, the medical team at Austin Sports Medicine has extensive experience with plantar fasciitis. Based on this experience, we review a few key signs associated with this condition and how we can help restore your pain-free mobility.

Plantar fasciitis 101

Take a look at your feet for a moment and appreciate how two relatively small appendages can carry and support your entire body, day in and day out.

Critical to this process is a tough ligament that stretches from the base of your toes to your heels called the plantar fascia. This connective tissue supports the arches in your feet and acts as a shock absorber with each step.

With plantar fasciitis, there’s damage and inflammation in the fascia. This damage most often develops over time and due to overstress in the tissues.

Exacerbating matters, when your plantar fascia becomes inflamed, your body responds by trying to reinforce the support in the anchoring bone tissues, so bone spurs can develop. And these bone spurs can lead to additional symptoms.

Plantar fasciitis warning flags

There’s good news and bad when it comes to plantar fasciitis. For the good news, the condition comes with a set of symptoms that makes the condition easy to identify. And the bad news? These symptoms are uncomfortable and include:

Pain in the morning with your first steps (the inflammation tightens the tissue overnight)
Pain flare-ups after being on your feet or exercising
A constant and dull pain that can develop over time
Heel pain
Trouble wearing shoes thanks to heel spurs
Pain and tenderness around your Achilles tendon

Plantar fasciitis pain often comes on after exercise and not during it, which prompts many patients to continue to exercise. And this often serves to worsen the damage in your feet and prolong your recovery.

Finding relief from plantar fasciitis

If you’re dealing with foot pain and heel pain and we find that you have plantar fasciitis, there are steps that we want you to take right away, including:

Rest: Stay off your feet as much as you can to allow the plantar fascia time to heal
Activity modification: For example, if you’re a daily runner, we suggest trying swimming or cycling for a bit
Stretching and strengthening exercises
Anti-inflammatory medications
Icing for pain relief
Orthotics

If these frontline treatments don’t work and your plantar fasciitis pain persists, we can try a corticosteroid injection, though these don’t work for everybody.

We can also try ultrasound or shockwave therapy for chronic cases of plantar fasciitis. For severe cases, we do offer surgical solutions, such as releasing the plantar fascia or lengthening a tight calf muscle.

Before we get too far ahead of ourselves here, the next step is yours to take — come in for an evaluation with one of our foot health experts.

To get that ball rolling, please contact Austin Sports Medicine today. Call 512-450-1300 or book online to see a specialist at one of our locations in Bee Cave, Austin, Cedar Park, and Pflugerville, Texas.