Plantar fasciitis is a common condition that causes heel pain and affects about 10% of people at some point in their lives. While there are a variety of treatments available, some are more effective or costly than others. In this article, we will explore the most effective treatment options for plantar fasciitis, focusing on natural and easy methods that can heal the condition without any negative side effects or downtime.
About Plantar Fasciitis:
The plantar fascia is a band of connective tissue originating at the calcaneus and inserted on the tendons of the forefoot and proximal phalanges to support the foot arch and act as a shock absorber for the pressure placed on the foot.
Patients often complain of stabbing, non-radiating heel pain that is worse in the morning or after a long period of sitting; the pain worsens at the end of the day, and diagnosis is usually made based on history and physical examination.
Plantar fasciitis is a degeneration of the plantar fascia because of repetitive microtears of the fascia that leads to inflammatory reaction and is not the primary inflammatory process that most believe it to be. There are multifactorial causes of Plantar Fasciitis like overuse stress, abnormal biomechanics, obesity, heel pad atrophy, aging, and occupations requiring prolonged standing are a few of the reasons, to name some.
Plantar Fasciitis Treatment:
With Plantar Fasciitis, the longer you have the symptoms more severe the pain will be and the longer the treatment may take when treated with traditional Physical Therapy. In general, conventional Physical therapy treatment options will be using exercises, Manual therapy, stretching, icing, rest, activity modifications, orthotics, nighttime splints, etc. All the above treatment may help you to achieve your goal slowly or not help you at all. With advancements in medicine and innovative, evidence-based, Non-Invasive treatment options, you can be healed much faster with minor discomfort by using the regenerative approach that effectively addresses the root cause of the problem to promote long-term natural healing.
The best alternative treatment for Plantar fasciitis is listed below.
- Shockwave therapy, also known as Extracorporeal shock wave, is one of the best treatments for Plantar Fasciitis; it has the highest level of evidence than any other treatment. It’s a non-invasive treatment option that effectively treats without risk, side effects, and downtime for faster, more effortless healing. Shockwaves stimulate VEGF (vascular endothelial growth factor), which causes angiogenesis, something that stimulates the growth of new blood vessels in addition to other growth factors in degenerative tissues, which will result in faster and natural healing by stimulating fibroblast and collagen production and reduces the thickening of the plantar fascia. In recent years the use of Shockwave has become the go-to treatment for Plantar fasciitis due to its effectiveness in treating Plantar Fasciitis.
- The INDIBA is a radiofrequency treatment at 448khz that is delivered to the body via electrodes, and it’s known to be one of the best alternative treatments for Plantar Fasciitis and the best pain management treatment option. The current generated is safe, pain-free, and electromagnetic in nature, introducing energy to the body. This current causes bio-stimulation and a thermal effect that will help reduce pain and improve the body’s natural regeneration, repair, and defense response. INDIBA significantly increases deep blood flow to deliver more oxygen and nutrients to repair dysfunctional tissues stuck in a non-healing state during the progression of Plantar Fasciitis. It also heals the damaged tissue by stimulating the body’s natural repair mechanisms by increasing the replication of fibroblasts and osteocytes, synthesizing collagen and elastin, and cellular metabolism for faster healing. INDIBA, when combined with other treatments like Stimpod 460, Laser, manual therapy, and other therapeutic techniques, along with the clinical knowledge of the therapist, helps create unparalleled results to heal Plantar Fasciitis naturally and quickly.
- The other best conservative treatment for plantar fasciitis is a Class IV laser therapy, also known as High Power Laser Therapy (HPLT). It offers a painless, non-surgical, and side-effect-free treatment for Plantar Fasciitis. It reduces pain and inflammation, promotes tissue repair, improves blood flow and lymphatic drainage, and improves immune response through photobiostimulation and bio-stimulation effects. During treatment with Laser, you may experience slight heat when the therapist moves the Laser over the treatment area. The Laser provides patients with freedom of movement and no restriction and downtime after the treatment.
- Dry needling is a treatment where thin needles are inserted in the areas of pain and on the Plantar fascia. These needles are attached to electric stimulation to stimulate the fascia to heal faster and decrease pain. This treatment is uncomfortable, and most patients don’t prefer this treatment. Dry needling is more effective in chronic cases when other conservative treatments are ineffective.
- Stimpod NMS460 provides a non-invasive, non-drug solution with no side effects and rapid onset of action to decrease pain caused by plantar fasciitis. Stimpod NMS460 generates electromagnetic effects, utilizing PRF, which affects the cellular metabolic activity of the nerve. The resulting cellular response changes the characteristics of the nerve, which in many cases causes the nerve to recover to its normal function and decreases chronic nerve pain. With this treatment, the patient sees immediate pain reduction in the plantar part of the feet.
- Just doing the above treatment will not give you the results you need; the treating therapist should also consider looking at your overall body biomechanics, hip, knee, foot and along with other treatments like Instrument assisted soft tissue mobilization (IASTM), Cupping, Manual therapy, Myofascial release, stretching, Taping, ankle joint mobilization, and tarsal bone mobilization to give you faster relief from plantar fasciitis.
Talk to your therapist or the Doctor about the above-listed treatment options and see what treatment option will fit your treatment plan to get the help you need to recover faster from your Plantar Fasciitis without injections and surgery.
Dr. Siva Parnam, DPT, Osteopractor
References
- Sun J, Gao F, Wang Y, Sun W, Jiang B, Li Z. Extracorporeal shock wave therapy is effective in treating chronic plantar fasciitis: A meta-analysis of RCTs. Medicine (Baltimore). 2017 Apr;96(15):e6621. doi: 10.1097/MD.0000000000006621. PMID: 28403111; PMCID: PMC5403108.
- Naruseviciute D, Kubilius R. The effect of high-intensity versus low-level laser therapy in the management of plantar fasciitis: randomized participant blind controlled trial. Clin Rehabil. 2020 Aug;34(8):1072-1082. doi: 10.1177/0269215520929073. Epub 2020 Jun 8. PMID: 32513018; PMCID: PMC7372589.
- Iacob, George Sebastian & Citea, Mihai. (2020). The Effectiveness of Short Term Soft-Tissue Treatment Procedure Using Indiba Fascia in the Rehabilitation of Acute Lateral Epicondylitis. 259-265. 10.26352/EY06-FEFSTIM2020.
- He C, Ma H. Effectiveness of trigger point dry needling for plantar heel pain: a meta-analysis of seven randomized controlled trials. J Pain Res. 2017 Aug 18;10:1933-1942. doi: 10.2147/JPR.S141607. PMID: 28860848; PMCID: PMC5571851.
- Yelverton C, Rama S, Zipfel B. Manual therapy interventions in the treatment of plantar fasciitis: A comparison of three approaches. Health SA. 2019 Sep 25;24:1244. doi: 10.4102/hsag.v24i0.1244. PMID: 31934436; PMCID: PMC6917457.
Thanks for your blog, nice to read. Do not stop.
Thank you for this infromative Blog and article. I had suffered from Plantar fasciitis for more than a year, and I had gone through traditional physical therapy, podiatry treatments, and shots in the foot with stretching, ice, nighttime splints, manual therapy, and exercises with no success; no one ever educated me about any alternate treatments to help my Plantar fasciitis pain. Thank you for this great article; I will try the treatment you advised. I am hoping this will help me!
I appreciate you bringing attention to the fact that different modalities can assist in treating plantar fasciitis. While this information is beneficial, I have personally tried some of these treatments without much success.
Thank you for sharing your experience. I’m sorry to hear that the treatments you received for plantar fasciitis didn’t produce the desired results. It’s worth noting that plantar fasciitis is a complex condition, and the effectiveness of treatments can vary depending on the stage of the disease. For example, dry needling may not be effective during the acute stage of plantar fasciitis.
Additionally, if you received all of these treatments from different therapists, then the outcome can be different; it is worth considering different treatments from the same providers, as it’s important to maintain continuity of care throughout the treatment process.
When searching for a therapist, it’s essential to find a provider who offers a comprehensive approach to treatment and can provide a variety of modalities in one place. It’s also important to consider the therapist’s approach to treatment before beginning therapy. I hope this information is helpful in your search for effective treatment.