This blog post is designed to stimulate discussion on the issue. Your plantar fascia is in your foot. There are many known things that can lead to plantar fasciitis. Please read the synopsis of the newest research and my take on the research. Here is the link to the research so you can check for yourself.
New Research on Chronic Plantar Fasciitis
In the September 2021 Issue of JOSPT (Journal of Orthopedic and Sports Physical Therapy) a research article was published titled:
"Chronic Plantar Heel Pain is Principally Associated with Waist Girth (Systemic) and Pain (Central) Factors, Not Foot Factors: A Case-Controlled Study"
This research found that the biggest factors in chronic (more than 3 months) heel pain were waist girth (circumference), plantar flexion strength (rising on your toes), pain at more than one site, and pain catastrophizing were independently important.
This means that, in the study, participants that had increased waist circumference, decreased strength, more than one area of pain, or thought there pain was higher were more likely to have the heel pain last longer.
Areas not found to be associated with chronic plantar issues were big toe extension, body mass index, morning stiffness, depression, physical activity, or body composition.
Conclusions That Can Be Made From This Study
This study, although not robust, does have some valid conclusions that we can make from this.
Your body type is not a factor. If you are a big person or a heavy person, that doesn't mean that you will have plantar fascia issues or heel pain.
Your thoughts about your pain and how you deal with pain play a big role. You can take the Pain Catastrophizing Scale here. The lower your score, the less likely to have chronic issues you are.
Dealing with pain, or learning to deal with pain, is a topic for an entire other blog post and I will link it when able.
This study was small (It had 320 people in it). It compared 220 people with chronic pain and 100 people with no foot issues. The participants were age and gender matched.
The interesting thing found here was that the ability to rise up on your toes may be affected by chronic heel pain. By continuing to work on that aspect of strength, your time with heel pain may be reduced.
As with most research, more needs to be done with a higher number of participants from various socio-economic backgrounds and in different locations needs to be done to see if the date holds true.
Comments