Plantar fasciitis can easily occur with regular exercise or being on your feet all day. To minimize the impact of this condition on your activities, a combination of treatment methods can help alleviate pain.

Use Support And Splinting

Supports or splints can add cushion to your foot and reduce impact on your plantar fascia when your walk or do other activities. Plantar fascia sleeves may be helpful when your pain is not severe and you only need mild support. These sleeves look similar to socks, but only cover your heel and ankle. Splints will offer more support and may limit ankle motion. You might find splinting your foot and ankle works better when you are resting or sleeping. Keeping your range of motion limited when the pain is at its worse can help keep the foot and ankle in a neutral position and reduce additional strain on your plantar fascia.

Stretch

Stretching can be useful for preventing plantar fascia pain. When you wake up in the morning, start by performing exercises to stretch your calf muscles. You can sit up in the bed with your legs extended and try pulling your toes toward your shin. This motion should provide your calf with a gentle stretch. Another stretch you can do throughout the day is to use a tennis ball to stretch out the plantar fascia. Place a tennis ball on the floor and with your bare foot, apply firm pressure on the tennis ball and use your foot to roll the ball around. Focus on the area of your foot where you generally feel pain. As an alternative, you can roll a cold bottle of water on the floor, which doubles as a way to use cold therapy to reduce inflammation.

Try Steroid Injections

Steroid injections are often used for plantar fasciitis when at-home care is ineffective. Fortunately, steroid injections are simple and can be performed at your doctor's office. After the area is cleaned, a topical cold spray might be used so you feel the needle less. A combination of lidocaine and corticosteroids are injected into the heel of your foot. If the medication was injected into the right place, you should be able to walk comfortably within a couple of minutes.

Your foot should continue to feel comfortable for hours, until the lidocaine wears away, then you will notice the pain return. Before bed, you should ice the injection site for few minutes. Within the next day, you should notice another decrease in pain once the steroids begin to work. Even with a steroid injection, you should be mindful of the activities that caused plantar fasciitis or the problem will return within months. If the problem was triggered by running or other exercise, you should consider investing in better shoes that are conducive to the exercises you perform.

Plantar fasciitis is a common, but problematic condition, because it can drastically impact daily activities. Fortunately, most instances are managed without surgical intervention. Contact a clinic, like East Village Foot & Ankle Surgeons , for more help.