I decided to do an informational page dedicated to this specific topic because I am seeing so many people with this problem.
Here is the standard party line on plantar fasciitis: it is pain in the feet, mostly in the morning that gets better through the day.
orthos (orthopedic surgeons) can't do anything about it. they recommend comfortable supportive shoes and stretching exercises.
podiatrists will recommend support shoes or inserts or orthotics; which they can specially make for you. . if you want to go this way, keep in mind that it is a crutch, and will not treat cause. why is treating cause so important? finding the cause and resolving it will free you up from pain, from needing meds or anyone, the podiatrist, the shoe person, your doctor and even me. this is what happens when cause is treated:
Deanna had neck pain and back pain for years. OMT was the only thing that helped her. We were able to taper her weekly visits out to once monthly, then every two months, but I never quite knew what her main problem was (she also had many other issues) until this last visit. You can see from this video that a miraculous, amazing thing happened on this session and she and I are pretty much done - no xrays, no meds, no surgeries, no injections.
prolotherapy - this is injection of a sugar solution into the tenderpoints of your feet. I had one patient who reported that it was the only thing that helped his feet. However, he was going to a doctor every 3-4wks at $500 a visit. It did not help his other problems with neck pain, back pain and headaches.
Physical Therapy - well forget it. There aren't many exercises for the feet. And there aren't many ways to yank the feet. That's probably what you already know about your problem.
With 10 years of osteopathic hands on experience, I think I am pretty darn good as my patients would attest (a few of them on video on my YouTube channel - browse for DOCTORHOANG)
The following is my clinical experience, observations and treatment results from teachings from a great traditional osteopathic physician - 80 years old, retired, will occasionally teach only the most dedicated traditional osteopaths. He is so amazing. I was horribly messed up one time. He treated me and within 20minutes, I sat up healed, without trace or hint of having been traumatized in my tissues. I tell you that when I sat up, I was as amazed as Deanna was. From that one experience, I will fly anywhere, any time and pay whatever is asked for this man's teachings. Amazing. I am still astonished, impressed to this day (that career changing experience happened 3 years ago).
What I want to try to do for you, is to prove to you this: you may think your only problem is your feet. It is not. Plantar fasciitis is ALWAYS a distal manifestation of a proximal problem. MD, allopathic, biochemical and statistical medicine will never guarantee such an absolute certainty as always, never, etc. The narrowest, most closed minded of MDs will roll their eyeballs at me and laugh at us, but let me tell you - I do charge alot, what I charge and patients will gladly pay me for is getting results. In my world, the one who gets you results is the one who gets to tell you what the problem is.
Most people who have plantar fasciitis, do not have plantar fasciitis alone. They generally are messed up. They usually have other problems like: neck pain, low back pain, hip pain, SI pain, a "pinching" in their legs. There usually is at least one past serious trauma, car accident, something, even in their distant past, as the set up. Then other multiple accumulated traumatic strains pile up, one on top of the other and one day you wake up with pain. One fairly young patient, 30 yrs old, had both hips replaced (at 14 and 20, from osteoporosis from cancer treatment when he was a child); yep it took that long for the feet pain to manifest.
The general rule for those of you who are messed up is, both feet hurt badly. Take the foot that is the good foot. You are more likely to get changes in the sensation of the pain. You are more likely to feel the difference. The sore spot usually is on the inside arch, right at at highest point. Those of you who are really messed up will have more than one tenderpoint running up and down (from big toe to heel) on the inside. Those of you who are really, really messed up will even have more sore spots away from the inside arch, moving outward, towards what we call the lateral, outside foot.
Now, the bad foot is usually the thinner skinnier foot. Why skinnier? The unbalanced transmission of force and weight bearing and gravity on the more painful foot over the years has strained the tissues. The protective fat pad is pretty much gone and the bones of your feet are walking around bearing your weight uncushioned.
Now back to the better foot. Find a spot, any one spot. Push a finger into it. Hold the pressure there. With the same even pressure, track that spot down towards the heel; we are talking barely half a centimeter. You are not going to yank that tissue inches down toward the heel. I mean displace that spot just enough to get a response. Don't go crazy. Once it starts to change, don't think that taking it farther is going to get you more. Be satisfied that there is some change. Keep your finger there and hold. Now, from that spot push your finger into the tissue and hold. You will feel a change. Sorry, it will be temporary because this is a very simplified example of one of the things I do in a treatment. I go after cause first, then I go after getting these sore spots to change and then hold.
Now, for those of you who aren't too bad and just have one foot involvement, lets do this: If your bad foot is on the right, take your left hand and put the fingers underneath your left buttock area. Push around up in there as you are lying down on your back. Jam it around. You are going to find some sore spots. Find a good big one. Push the finger straight up into it. Hold it there. Wait and it will change. Once it changes, stop. Then go down to the foot and find the sore spots on the foot and just push up into them. Hold. Wait for changes. Then stop. Do not go crazy and start massaging and pushing up into them. Just stop.
There you have it. Hopefully, I've proven myself to most of you out there and you got some symptomatic changes. Sorry, it will not last; each patient's causative strain is special and particular to them. Each person has his/her own history of accumulated trauma. Call and make an appointment for a visit. I can't give up all the secrets of the osteopathic profession.
For those of you far away and out of my area you can find a traditional osteopathic physician. I do have to warn you though, OMT is like martial arts. Each physician has a style that might be quite different from mine. A good directory of us is www.cranialacademy.org I do have to tell you because of politics and the whole osteopathic rules I am not a member of the Cranial Academy; i.e., I do just fine, not needing their referral. There are the shi-shi, fru-fru people who talk about your spiritual journey ( I can see how some of my colleagues go this way), I am mostly, purely, mechanical. Hope this little tidbit guides you to finding the right osteopathic physician.
Read more on my blog about plantar fasciitis. This month I have had a lot of knee, feet and post fracture shortening/contractures, post fracture pain. I plan to talk about some of these cases on my blog:
