LOTS Lagniappe | Louisiana Tech News
Plantar Fasciitis + One80 System®
We are well into 2023, and all of us here at LOTS are eagerly awaiting the arrival of spring. Flowers blooming. Baseball games. Crawfish boils. The list goes on and on. Spring is a great time to get outside and enjoy creation with friends and family. However, for many of you, pain and injury are keeping you from living the life you desire. One common ailment we see often see in the clinic is plantar fasciitis. Let’s go over plantar fasciitis and what we can do about it so this aggravating pain in your foot doesn’t hinder you this spring.
Simply put, plantar fasciitis is inflammation of the fascia on the bottom of the foot. This fascia is a thick band of connective tissue that runs from your heel all the way to your toes. When inflamed, a person will experience a sharp pain on the bottom of their heel that is typically worse in the morning. This pain can return during the day with increased activity or walking on hard surfaces. Anyone that has experienced plantar fasciitis knows that the pain can be debilitating. It can prevent you from walking around in the house, much less climbing the bleachers at a baseball game, or walking the dog.
Conventional treatment for plantar fasciitis includes use of orthotics, corticosteroid injections, night splints, massage, stretching, and dry needling. Many of these treatments are incredibly painful, making it hard to even tolerate them. Orthotics are intended to provide support in your shoe. However, everyone is built differently, and changing a person’s base of support will alter mechanics at the knee and hip that lead to other problems down the road. Night splints are intended to keep your foot in dorsiflexion (toes pointed up) through the night, so that the plantar fascia doesn’t shorten during the night, as we typically sleep in a position of plantarflexion (toes pointed down). This sounds great in theory; however, the splints are uncomfortable, and you may have to wear them for months and months, even years before you get relief! If only there was something else that didn’t cause pain, increase risk for injury to other joints, or take forever to work… WAIT! THERE IS!
Enter the One80® System. A patented full body evaluation and treatment method designed to get to the root cause of pain and dysfunction. This helps you get back to the things you love faster, meaning less time in doctors offices and more time to do what YOU want. Our therapists will perform a full body screen and evaluation to determine contributing factors to your plantar fasciitis. Patients will then receive manual therapy and exercises to address the deficits found. We will leave the orthotics, night splints, and other gimmicks behind in the process. Don’t let spring and summer pass you by while you’re in pain! Schedule an appointment today to experience this for yourself!
Have another injury or pain besides plantar fasciitis? The One80 system is still right for you! Call our experienced team and let us show you how.
Jordan Taylor PT, DPT (3/14/23)
