It's Sunday, it 11am and you are sitting comfortably and getting your last minute adjustments made to your fantasy football team. Then you see it, that capital P, for your rock star player being probable. Probable??? Peyton Manning probable?? What kind of nonsense is that? Upon reading on, you read the two words Plantar Fasciitis.
If you are lucky, you have already had this in your lifetime so you know it hurts but can most likely play through the pain for a couple million dollars.
But actually, if you are one of the lucky ones who has never had this, you may not know if it is worth the risk to play the "P" player who has plantar fasciitis. We figured as two foot and ankle surgeons that make up the "2 Pods and A Microphone" Podcast, we could fill you in on what is Plantar Fasciitis, and is it something you should bench your fantasy football player or take the chance and play them.
The plantar fascia is a tight band on the bottom of the foot that connects the heel bone, the calcaneus, to the long flexor tendons to the toes. What I always tell patients when they come into the office with heel pain or plantar fasciitis, is that even though it hurts so darn bad the cure really revolves around stretching believe or not in most cases. Sure it can require a medicine by mouth or even a shot with some extra support in shoe gear, but this does not have to be a deal breaker for your fantasy football player. I have 65 year old patients that can got from a 10 to a 1 on the pain scale with some simple steps.
People find it hard to believe that stretching, icing and support can be the perfect combo to relieve and help get rid of their heel pain, but it's true!!!!The plantar fascia is a tight band on the bottom of the foot that connects the heel bone, the calcaneus, to the long flexor tendons to the toes. What I always tell patients when they come into the office with heel pain or plantar fasciitis, is that even though it hurts so darn bad the cure really does revolve around stretching believe or not, in most cases. Sure it can require a medicine by mouth or even a shot with some extra support in shoe gear but it is usually a simple fix.
The fix is simple but, depending in how long it takes you to seek help to get better, could be the deciding factor on how long it actually takes you to get better. The sooner you seek care, start the stretching exercises and put good support in you shoes, the sooner you are on the road to recovery.
Steps to getting rid of your heel pain:
1. No barefoot for the next 6-8 weeks
2. Static calf stretches (if you do not know what that means check out our Pinterest Page Heel Pain Helpers http://www.pinterest.com/cafcdpm/heel-pain-helpers/
3. Get a 16-20oz bottle of water, freeze it and take it out of the freezer at least 2x's a day and roll it back and forth under your foot with a thin sock on or barefoot(I tell patients all of the time that this is like physical therapy with out a copay)
4. Look at your shoes, if they have no arch support ditch them or get a really good arch support like our over the counter arch supports for heel pain like spenco
5. Of course, if you can take an anti-inflammatory and you have no drug interactions that will also help this feel better for you.
Stretching Exercises Stick Figure Illustrations below
(by Dr, McGowan, she's a podiatrist not an artist, don't judge people)
If you have heel pain or plantar fasciitis, and it has been longer than two weeks you should see a podiatrist. If you live in Central Florida, of course the podiatrist you should see is Dr. McGowan or Dr, Henne! Our webpage is http://centeranklefootcare.com/index.html where you can explore more about all the different services we offer at all 3 of our locations.
