You’ve just started putting in the extra miles, walking or running to get fit, and suddenly putting weight on the base of the foot, near the heel makes it ache, and makes more training a painful prospect. That sharp pain in your heel can be a symptom of plantar fasciitis, a condition of the connective plantar fascia tissue in your foot, and traditionally very difficult to treat. Plantar Fasciitis is an “overuse” condition that can feel as though you have a pebble in your shoe.
At Back In Motion Balnarring on the Mornington Peninsula we have several solutions for this condition.
Firstly, it is important to look at your whole lower limb biomechanics. We can work on your strength and flexibility in your leg and foot, prescribe orthotics, tape and teach taping, and use massage and ultrasound to reduce inflammation. We have a unique way of mobilizing your foot and teaching “foot core stability” to reduce pressure on the plantar fascia.
Apart from the above solutions, there is a newer healing technology that is making a profound difference to Plantar fasciitis sufferers and is NOW available at BIM Balnarring.
Shockwave Therapy is often useful, because the Plantar fascia is a connective tissue, not a muscle. It puts a significant shockwave through the tissues you apply it to. It is a pressure wave which brings blood flow to the area. Tendons and connective tissue do not have much blood supply and can take a long time to heal. Shockwave artificially stimulates the healing of the tendon.
Shockwave therapy can also be used on Achilles tendonitis, tennis and golfer’s elbow, and rotator cuff tendon problems, and is usually most effective on long term chronic problems, rather than acute injuries.
Shockwave is not the first line of treatment for injured patients. Physiotherapy and graded exercise are more likely in the first instance. But for more stubborn conditions, Shockwave has shown excellent results in other Back In Motion clinics. The evidence at the moment suggests between three to five treatments are required, but most people should see an improvement within three sessions. It has a 90% success rate.
The Shockwave therapy is administered for a three-minute period to the affected area during consecutive weekly appointments. It is a bit of an uncomfortable sensation, like most physio hands-on treatments with a little discomfort during the treatment.
After each session, most people get a significant reduction of pain and symptoms. Long term it stimulates healing, short term it reduces pain. The best thing is, the effects are long lasting. It stops a lot of people having more invasive things like surgery or injections. The treatment is considered safe, but can produce skin reddening or bruising, short term pain, and cannot be used on people taking blood thinning medications or with bleeding disorders.
by Paul Rowson Director and Senior Clinician Back In Motion Balnarring
Call 59831021 or Book online NOW