Plantar Fasciitis

by thefootmechanic

Many people have heard the term plantar fasciitis yet are unsure as to what it really means. Simply put, the plantar fascia is the tissue on the bottom of the foot which connects your heel bone to the very front of the t toe bones and their associated tissues.The best analogy would be to take a bow and arrow and place the bow with the string side down on the ground. The bow would represent the arch of your foot while the string would represent your plantar fascia. Now imagine if you push the bow down, the ends would elongate and the string would stretch. Such is the relationship of the arch of your foot and the plantar fascia. However, as the string of a bow is very elastic, the plantar fascia is quite the opposite. It is a very stiff ligamentous-type tissue which resists all stretching. The result of the arch flattening with every step you take is continued stretching of the plantar fascia Over time, this “micro-trauma” to the plantar fascia results in inflammation, pain, tissue tearing and potential rupture.

                                                           – Dr. Brett Purdom, PT, DPT, ATC, CSCS
                                                              The Foot Mechanic™

to read more about this topic or other of Dr. Purdom’s blogs, visit his website at http://www.thefootmechanic.com