Is There a Cure for Plantar Fasciitis Heel Pain ?

More or less everyone who has suffered from a stubborn case of plantar fasciitis heel pain will have wondered what they need to do to find a cure. The awkward thing is that even finding a bit of relief from plantar fasciitis is notoriously difficult let alone finding a full blown cure. 

We live in a funny kind of world, if you wake up with toothache tomorrow morning you can go to any dentist within a days drive if your home and expect to get a consistent diagnosis and a pretty decent filling. If however you wake up tomorrow morning and the first few steps you take feel like you have glass shards in your heel it isn’t that easy to get yourself sorted out.

There is a huge amount of professional disagreement on how plantar fasciitis should be treated. Even podiatrists argue amongst themselves within the profession as to what the best treatment plan should look like. I see theses facts reflected every day in my office because most people who come to me looking to cure their plantar fasciitis heel pain have already been elsewhere and not got a result.

Possibly part of the reason for the difficulty finding a cure for plantar fasciitis heel pain is that there’s no single procedure that works every time. For some reason that we have yet to understand there are scarcely 2 cases of plantar fasciitis heel pain respond to exactly the same approach.

Before I go any further I want to make it very clear that I do not claim to be able to ‘cure’ any of the conditions that I treat. ‘Cure’ is a funny old word and while I fully endorse its use amongst patients it is a risky and sometimes even dodgy business for healthcare providers to offer ‘cures’. In addition, the idea of ‘curing’ irritation in the plantar fascia may be an unscientific one. But don’t worry because ‘cure’ and ‘lasting relief’ are not the same thing.

If we look at dentistry again for a moment, what the cure is for dental pain? In some ways there is no ‘cure’ for dental pain because you are at risk of it happening again your whole life long even though there is a lot you can do to reduce its likelyhood. What I can tell you with confidence however is that the majority of people I work with who suffer from plantar fasciitis heel pain get exactly the kind of results they show up looking for much in the same way they do at the dentist.

IF there was a cure for plantar fasciitis heel pain it would most likely not be a one shot sniper bullet so much as a sustained bombing campaign from a great height. Most people with plantar fasciitis heel pain find they need a variety of tools, techniques and lifestyle adjustments to get relief. This being said there is no need to feel daunted because plenty of people have trodden the plantar fasciitis heel pain path (gingerly) and found their way out of their pain long before your even started.

The people I work with who show up looking to find a cure for plantar fasciitis heel pain tend to get relief with a combination of the following..

Acupuncture
Deep Tissue Release
Stretching
Suction Cups
Taping
Scar Tissue Release
Vibration Massage
Custom Insoles
Foot & Glute Strengthing
Lifestyle Alterations

It seems that a unique combination of the principles above is what brings satisfaction for people looking for a cure to plantar fasciitis heel pain most often. Like I said though I don’t not offer cures and I am sceptical even of the concept of a cure with stubborn pain complaints that have a propensity to reoccur.

One thing I have noticed over the years treating people suffering with plantar fasciitis heel pain is that those who perform stability and coordination exercises and wear custom insoles tend to come back far less often. This may be due to the fact that natural levels of arch support and the muscles of the lower hip stabilise the heel, ankle and foot which keeps them out of trouble.

When you have worked with as many plantar fasciitis, foot pain and heel pain sufferers as I have over the years you definitely learn to be cautious of using the word ‘cure’ and possibly even more cautious of others promising ‘cures’. By the same token you learn to spot the people who will get the result they want from a mile away. This fact points to the value of mindset because ultimately it’s the people who show up and handle their business who tend to get better. Maybe this observation says more about the possibility of a cure for plantar fasciitis heel pain than anything else.