About 1 in 10 people will suffer from plantar fasciitis at any point in their lifetime, making this a very common condition. The main symptom of plantar fasciitis is pain, commonly felt about 4 cm (1,5 inch) forward from the heel. Plantar fasciitis means inflammation of the plantar fascia, which is a strong band of fibrous tissue that stretches from the heel to the middle foot bones.

The pain usually eases on resting of the foot, but is often at its worst first thing in the morning or after long periods where no weight is placed on the foot. Gentle exercise may ease the pain a little, but a long walk will aggravate the pain.

People especially at risk getting plantar fasciitis are the ones that do a lot of walking, running, standing, etc. In addition, people who have recently started exercising on a different surface, like running on the road instead of a track also have a greater risk of the condition. Some people find that a poor arch support, or a sudden increase in weight has brought on the symptoms.

Often though, there is no apparent cause, especially in older people. A common wrong belief is that the pain is due to a bony growth or ‘spur’ coming from the heel bone (calcaneum). Many people have a bony spur of the heel bone but not everyone gets plantar fasciitis.

There is no specific treatment that appears to stand out as the best. A combination of different treatments does help though.

In general, this is what can be done best:

Try to rest the foot.

Some gentle stretching exercises like standing on the bottom step of the stairs and gently stretch the foot by dropping the heel.

Custom Made Orthotics.

Custom made orthotics will speed the recovery remarkably if one of more of your arches in the foot have dropped. The insole will support all three arches of the foot thereby decreasing the tension on the plantar fascia.

Over the counter orthotics often only support one arch, the inner one, and are mass produces so one size (hopefully) fits all.

Custom made orthotics are individually tailored to accommodate for your feet and support your arches. In addition, they can be modified with a full heel cushion, heel spur pad, or cut a hole in the heel so they are even more comfortable to walk on.

Cross friction can also be used which stimulates blood supply to the plantar fascia and promotes tissue heeling