Causes and symptoms of plantar fasciitis, modern methods of treatment. Plantar fasciitis: how to treat at home with folk remedies, ointments

If plantar fasciitis occurs, home treatment should be started immediately. The sooner you take necessary measures, the more likely it is to quickly get rid of the problem and achieve an improvement in well-being. Therapy of the disease is aimed at relieving the pain syndrome and reducing the inflammatory process, the rapid healing of micro-tears and cracks, and increasing the flexibility and strength of the foot.

Priority Actions

When initial signs disease should pay attention to lifestyle and physical activity. If possible, they should be corrected so as to remove unpleasant symptoms and prevent complications in the future.

With plantar fasciitis, it is necessary to ensure sufficient physical activity. If you use shoes with thin soles every day, you should refrain from walking on asphalt or concrete. It is forbidden to run, as this contributes to the activation of the inflammatory process. At the time of exacerbation of the disease, it is necessary to stop playing sports or limit the exercise that provokes the occurrence pain.

Ice has a good analgesic and anti-inflammatory effect. It can be applied to the heel area at the end of the working day. This will quickly and effectively alleviate the condition.

Very severe pain will help to remove drugs from the NSAID group. They are characterized by a complex effect and have an anti-inflammatory, analgesic, anti-edematous effect. For this purpose, drugs based on Diclofenac or Ibuprofen can be used.

However, drugs should not be used uncontrollably. They have a large number side effects, in particular, have a negative effect on the mucous membrane gastrointestinal tract and can cause ulcers and bleeding.

an important role in the successful elimination of discomfort plays the choice of the right shoes. It must successfully absorb the impact of walking and support the arch of the foot. For the period of exacerbation of the disease, it is necessary to abandon the use of slippers, shoes or high-heeled sandals. A pair with a soft and thick sole should be preferred. The ideal option is sneakers.

Proximal localization of fasciitis requires improved footwear. Special inserts in the heel area or orthopedic insoles will help to cope with this problem. Thus, you can reduce the load on the area of inflammation.

Walking barefoot can aggravate the pain, so you need to put on your shoes as soon as possible after getting out of bed. In the morning, it is advisable to do exercises to stretch the lower leg. It will not take much time, only 3-4 minutes, but it will help to effectively strengthen the ligaments and muscles, which will positively affect the course of the disease.

Excess weight has negative impact on the ligamentous apparatus person, subjecting him to increased stress. Therefore, one of the first recommendations in the treatment of plantar fasciitis is weight loss. It is not necessary to lose half the weight, even a slight decrease in indicators will positively affect the patient's well-being.

Being engaged in the treatment of the disease at home, you should remember about some limitations. For example, about the prohibition of long-term thermal procedures. In this case, cold will help reduce pain and relieve inflammation, and fever adversely affect the patient's condition. It is advisable to observe this rule even during water procedures and in without fail complete hygiene measures cold shower.

The use of baths in the treatment of the disease

How to Treat Plantar Fasciitis folk remedies? Alternative medicine involves A complex approach. Therefore, one of the important conditions for successful therapy is the use of baths. Thanks to water procedures, the skin of the affected leg will be well steamed and softened. For amplification positive result medicinal components must be added to the liquid.

An additional advantage of this method of treatment is that the subsequent application of a compress will provide a more pronounced therapeutic effect.

The easiest recipe for making a bath is to add soda and salt. For 1 liter of hot water you will need 1 tbsp. l. each means. If desired, you can add a few drops of iodine, which has an antiseptic effect. The duration of water procedures is about 15-20 minutes. It is not recommended to use too hot liquid, since it can not only provoke a burn, but also worsen the patient's well-being.

The healing composition, which includes turpentine, vinegar and vodka, has a good effect. All components must be mixed in equal proportions and slightly heated in a water bath. With the help of the procedure, an analgesic, anti-inflammatory and relaxing effect is achieved.

Treatment with folk remedies includes the use of an "ice bath". Very suitable for this cold water. Further lowering the temperature of the liquid will allow the addition of crushed ice. The procedure should be done carefully, only the heel should be lowered into the water, and the total duration should not exceed 5-10 minutes. Otherwise, there is a high risk of frostbite on the feet.

The use of compresses in the treatment of plantar fasciitis

Folk remedies in the treatment of the disease necessarily include drugs for topical use. The use of compresses has a good therapeutic effect. Due to the correct application of the application, optimal conditions are created for the deep penetration of the drug deep into the epidermis. For compresses, you can use the following recipes:

Horseradish and laundry soap. Grind both components in equal proportions, mix well and put on the area of inflammation. Attach to leg, cover with plastic bag or wax paper and wrap. It is advisable to do this procedure at night so that the medicine acts on the pathological focus as long as possible. The tool has an antibacterial, anti-inflammatory and analgesic effect. Apply the application daily at bedtime until you feel better.
Sunflower tincture. Cut off the head of a flowering plant and take out the white porous pulp. Grind the mass, put in a glass container and pour vodka. The liquid should cover the sunflower by 0.5–1 cm. Leave the product in a dark place for 10-14 days. Before use, strain the tincture and add sunflower, olive, linseed or any other vegetable oil in a ratio of 1:1. The tool is used for rubbing and applying compresses.
Infusion of cinquefoil. For its preparation, it is necessary to grind the root of the plant. 2 tbsp. l. pour 50 ml of water and insist for 2 hours. After this time, strain the remedy, and mash the remaining pulp to a puree-like consistency. Put the mass on the heel and apply a compress. The duration of the drug is at least 10-12 hours. Therefore, the procedure should be done at bedtime so that the patient does not have to walk with the application.
Beets and apple cider vinegar. To apply a compress, you need to grate the vegetable and mix with apple cider vinegar in the same proportions. The tool has a pronounced emollient, anti-inflammatory and analgesic effect. Its only drawback is that it is able to paint the sole in red, which is relevant only in the hot season.
Elderberry tincture. Has strong anti-inflammatory and antiseptic properties. To prepare it, it is necessary to pour the berries with medical alcohol and insist for 5-7 days. It is advisable to do this in a glass container. Use the finished product for rubbing and applying compresses - moisten a piece of cotton fabric or gauze in a liquid, apply to a sore spot and wrap it on top.

Use of ointments and rubs

Therapy of plantar fasciitis with folk remedies involves the use of drugs for rubbing into the inflamed area several times a day.

The easiest way to prepare an ointment is to twist fresh unsalted lard in a meat grinder and use it as a rub. To enhance the anti-inflammatory and analgesic effect of fat, it must be fixed on the heel area and left overnight. To avoid unnecessary worries, fat can not be twisted and put on a whole slice. It will also have a positive effect.

When treating fasciitis with folk remedies, you should definitely use effective recipe based on propolis. To prepare the ointment, mix 25 g of grass and 200 g butter, melt the mixture in a water bath and rub the inflamed heel. The product can be left on all night, and to avoid soiling bed linen, put on a sock on top.

Has a powerful anti-inflammatory effect. Ointments, infusions, rubbing and other forms based on it are used in the treatment of many diseases. For medicine use the stem and leaves of the plant. To strengthen healing action cut parts should be put in the freezer for several hours. After that, pass through a meat grinder and add animal fat (pork, badger). For 1 part of the golden mustache you will need 2 parts of lard. The tool is used as an ointment, but not used for applying compresses. The medicine should be kept in the refrigerator so that it retains its consistency.

Therapy of fasciitis with folk remedies will help to cope with the inflammatory process without the use of pharmacological drugs. However, you should be patient, because this treatment, although it is absolutely safe, does not act as quickly as medicines.

By at least, as systemic deviations, since one-time, transient troubles, of course, can arise here as well. But the violations affecting the deep structures of the organ are mainly localized here. Or start here. For a long time we do not even suspect about them or ignore the first signals. For quite a long period of time, this is given to us quite easily. Moreover, we often blame the fingers and heel for problems with the fingers or the heel, not suspecting that their already pronounced pathologies are directly related to the yet unmanifested disease of the arch of the foot.

An unexpected train of thought, isn't it? Nevertheless, this is true: the arch of the foot connects its two supporting ends to each other. As we remember, it is formed by a set of convex metatarsal bones, ligaments that can partially shift these bones, and fascia, the largest and rather powerful muscle of the foot. Due to the fact that the arch of the foot serves as a bridge connecting the heel to the toes, violations of its structures are very often manifested at first by diseases of one of the two ends of this bridge. And there is nothing surprising in that.

Stress foot syndrome is, in fact, the first warning, a signal of the onset of fasciitis. That is, inflammation of the fascia is the next stage - the disease itself. Like everything that is called a syndrome in medicine, a tense foot is a whole complex of sensations, and sensations are quite different. Each of them is separately expressed rather weakly and may not attract due attention from our side. However, all together they create a strong enough discomfort, causing a desire to part with him upon returning home.

A tense foot usually aches both in motion and at rest. Moreover, it is the sole that aches - not the heel, but the entire arch right up to the fingertips. Attempts to instinctively pull the socks towards you without the help of hands are difficult - the arch of the foot literally does not want to straighten out, the fingers are twisted and pressed to their base. With the help of the hand, the foot can be straightened, but the aching pain is greatly increased. And when we let go of the leg, we understand that it has returned to its previous crooked position and we have not achieved anything by this.

No wonder: this phenomenon means that the naturally very flexible and easily stretchable muscle fiber gradually loses its elasticity. Most likely due to constant and too frequent microscopic tears inside it. Normally, such gaps occur during the work of each muscle. And in theory, they should be easily restored due to the ability of the muscles to grow two or three new ones in place of each dead cell. This feature of the muscle fiber is called hypercompensation. And it exists so that the next time the muscles can do more work than the previous one. The striated muscle tissue is less prone to growth than the striated one, but to some extent, hypercompensation is characteristic of any muscles of the body, even the heart.

Of course, the question of why the normal mechanism fails in this case remains open. This can also happen due to a violation of the blood supply to the fascia - as, for example, with arthrosis, deep vein thrombosis, destruction of capillaries as a result of diabetes mellitus. On the other hand, Pele, a patient with congenital diabetes, somehow managed to live a full and vibrant life in football and maintain an excellent blood supply to his legs for more than a decade in big-time sports ...

In fact, the fascia much more often loses its ability to regenerate due to another phenomenon inherent in the muscles, which we discussed above. The muscle, which often freezes in a tense position for a long time, will relax itself for some time, immediately after the end of the load. But it will gradually lose this ability, because such a rhythm of work (tension, and after 8 hours - relaxation) is not normal for the muscles. They can endure it without consequences once, they can endure it quite often, at more or less impressive intervals. But when static tension (and dynamic is “shrink-relaxed”) becomes the main principle of their work, all degenerative phenomena that we can only imagine quickly begin in them. Therefore, a tense foot is the result of its actual many hours of stress during the day and the loss of the ability to relax on its own even in the evenings.

In many patients the pain when the arch is stretched, and the tendency of the fingers to clench like a fist, is accompanied by a burning sensation in the heels when resting on them for a long time. For example, when we stand still for a while or lie on the floor / bed, bending our knees and resting our heels on the floor. In addition, stiff foot syndrome implies frequent aching pains when stretching the feet, that is, not on ourselves, as we did when trying to stretch, but away from ourselves, as we would do if we wanted to stand on our toes. Such pains are no longer associated with the loss of flexibility of the fascia fiber, but with its spasm. When we try to strain it, the spasm intensifies, and its fibers compress the ligaments of the metatarsal bones.

If during periods of idleness and rest we experience such sensations, we should understand that the sluggish inflammatory process we already have. And that without urgent> measures on our part, it will not go away by itself - it will lead to the next round of sensations called plantar fasciitis.

Causes of fasciitis

Fasciitis is an inflammation of the fascia. As already mentioned, this muscle allows us to bend the toe down, as if in ballet. And if we want to feel it under the arch, the easiest way to do this is by putting our fingers inside the arch, a little closer to the heel, and waving the toe in the air.

Why can fascia become inflamed? The bulk of the world's population without a medical education for some reason believes that inflammation and sepsis are synonymous. In most cases, what we observe in our body is indeed sepsis - inflammation resulting from an infection. But a slightly smaller percentage of cases are associated with aseptic inflammations that occur without infection, as a result of chronic injury fabrics.

What is a chronic injury, we understand: it is called lung result damage that occurs during prolonged exposure to this tissue or bone of some negative factor. Chronic injuries are never severe in terms of the number of affected areas and the depth of changes in them. Nevertheless and quick deliverance from them - the scenario is rare. Similarly, it is difficult to achieve full tissue repair after such episodes. Inflammations that occur in places of chronic injuries are not infectious, although the infection may join them later. We have already seen a similar scenario - just now. when talking about cracked heels. But we said that fasciitis results from chronic trauma to the fascia. What could have led to it?

The answer is obvious: of course, the loads on the foot that occur during walking or in other special situations. For example, this disease often appears in dancers, including ballet, gymnasts, circus acrobats. By the way, it is professional fasciitis that is closest to acute in terms of manifestations and course. It starts suddenly, proceeds painfully and unsettles the dancer for a long time. In our country, it is formed rather as a chronic one, but it is easier to treat it under certain circumstances.

Fasciitis occurs when there is too much pressure on the middle of the foot. AT young age- the reason for this may be excess weight or love for shoes that have top part as if wider than the bottom. Most of the women's shoes are made of this type. Let's pay attention to the beauties around us: whether they stand on a heel or on a sole, but the bones of their thumbs and little fingers certainly protrude so that they go a little beyond the sole. At the same time, men's shoes most often look different: the contour of the sole, when viewed from above at the toe of the shoe, is clearly visible - along with the stitching.

We agree that the “sole wider than the top” model looks somewhat less elegant and resembles either a goose foot or diving fins. Especially if a person has a wide leg by nature. The fair sex in the majority believes their feet are far from the ideal of beauty - that is, too wide and excessively long. Like Chinese women, modern European ladies are sure that the more miniature a woman's foot looks, the closer it is to perfection. Hence the peculiarities of shoes sewn for mass consumption.

In principle, sloping shoes not only can cause fasciitis due to the automatic under-collar of the foot inward when walking. It is characterized by extreme instability, the foot constantly strives to slip from it outward, then inward. This does not depend at all on the habit of the owner for shoes of this type, the shape of the legs, posture, and the state of the skeleton. Winter boots of this type significantly increase the likelihood of serious injury in a fall, not to mention the likelihood of a fall itself. And demi-season and summer can accelerate the development of deforming arthrosis of the ankle and knee joints. And lead to deformation of the toes (especially the little fingers), the appearance of serious skin problems- ingrown dry calluses and corns. From the side of the heel, the picture is even less pleasing, because chronic fasciitis is considered one of the causes of the development of the heel spur. However, shoes and addiction to the natural antidepressant - sweets - are not always to blame. Fasciitis often develops in people who, on the contrary, do their best to maintain a good physical form doing sports. For example, hard work in almost all simulators for leg muscles, classes in any kind of dance and athletics, and finally, can lead to it. And then, fasciitis often occurs as an age-related phenomenon - as the arch of the foot straightens and flattens over the years. This is especially true for people who were born with a relatively high arch of the foot. With such an anatomical feature, the likelihood of fasciitis increases significantly, since almost any prolonged load that causes the arch to “sag” to the floor leads to excessive tension on the fascia fiber.

Symptoms and signs of fasciitis

No matter how strange it may sound, but the main symptom of fasciitis is a dull, aching, pronounced pain in the sole, with a clear emphasis towards the heel, not the toe. In an acute (as acute as it is with fasciitis) process, pain occurs literally every time you try to get up after a break of more than 30 minutes. Also, acute fasciitis is often accompanied by a slight swelling of the area between the heel and the part of the arch adjacent to it, an increase in temperature in the entire cavity of the arch, swelling after long loads, stiffness of the foot, which is especially noticeable as if at the end of the step, when pushing the fingers back.

Chronic fasciitis also gives pain, but most often only after a really long rest, say, at night. The first steps after waking up are given to the patient with difficulty, since the pain at this time can be sharp and even shooting. The mobility of the foot in all moments where we need to rise on our toes is noticeably reduced. But after a while, the sensations become dull and disappear. Patients with fasciitis do not tend to limp when walking when the foot has already been "developed" after sleep. And besides these first few steps, which are given with great difficulty, the disease may not remind you of anything.

Patients with this disease can even attend training sessions according to their usual schedule and withstand the usual load on their legs, although they are no longer able to endure competitive loads. However, every productive day or training only worsens the morning sensations in a sore leg. In addition, people who are more or less attentive to themselves may notice that in the second half of a fruitful (especially for the legs) day, a feeling of heat and aching heaviness appears in the sore leg.

Stressed foot and fasciitis treatment

Self-treatment of a tense foot (as the first indicator of fascia problems) is quite possible and will not be difficult for anyone. The main thing here is to stop deluding yourself that a few almost intuitive finger rubs will solve the problem. Intuitively, we do everything right - we want to knead, rub, massage a stiff place ... In the same way, natural self-healing skills tell us to warm up the site of inflammation or, conversely, apply ice to the site of injury.

These instincts should be obeyed, but obeyed more carefully. If we already feel that the foot needs a massage, we should also understand that a massage carried out in 3-5 seconds has not helped anyone in any way. True, instinct will not tell us the latter - this will have to be understood with the help of reason.

Indeed, the essence of our current problem is that the fascia fiber is slightly damaged (slightly so far), there is a spasm in it and, probably, blood stasis. In two to four weeks, this congestion will become the basis of extensive inflammation, so it would be wiser to remove it now, while we can get a quick and good result. If we do everything right and put in a minimum of effort, we won’t even need to change shoes, put on some special insoles, be interested in arch supports made exclusively for us ...

However, if our legs periodically receive some kind of load in addition to normal walking (in fact, any sport, including swimming), it should definitely be abandoned for up to two weeks. In most cases, the treatment takes about one week, sometimes a couple of days more. We take comfort in the thought that we will be treating fasciitis much longer and without any guarantee that the elasticity of the fiber will be fully restored. And when the consolation will work, we will begin treatment.

Stressed foot treatment

Often chronic spasm of the muscles of the foot reflects general state nervous system organism. Negative stress, general psychological tension, overload of the cerebral cortex with information - all this is an indispensable attribute of modern life. The work of the muscles is controlled by neurons, therefore their general excitation and congestion simply cannot but create foci muscle tension. In addition, muscle activity and muscle tone are very dependent on the amount of stress hormones in the blood, especially adrenaline.

Let's put it this way: the power of the influence of the cortex on the muscles of the body (and the muscles of the body - on the processes that are fundamental for the whole organism) should not be underestimated. If we are always “on our nerves”, we don’t know how to calm down in a timely manner and leave the day’s chores outside the front door, gradually our fingers will begin to reflexively clench into fists not only on our feet, but also on our hands. And then either these very fists will be used, or we will end up with a cardiologist with hypertension, arrhythmia, angina pectoris and a couple more units in the “bouquet”.

If our foot problems are directly related to stress, then they will be observed with both fascia to the same extent. Also, they will get worse each time. when we are more nervous than usual. Of course, if we temporarily change our shoes for orthopedic ones for the sake of experiment, with a purely nervous tension it won't give any result.

In general, we should remember that a tense foot is a syndrome that affects both feet at the same time. The result of stress affects both feet to the same extent and rarely turns into fasciitis. But with a physical injury, we will get more pronounced symptoms only in one leg. Usually we are talking about the leg on which the heel heel wears out faster and the toe is torn off. Or the leg on the side of that, so to speak, arm in which we most often carry a regular and grocery bag.

We will not go into details of what the essence of the sign is. To find out why we have different loads on different legs, we will have to undergo a complete and most thorough examination of the entire musculoskeletal system. Perhaps we have scoliosis (curvature in the scapular region) or kyphosis of the lumbar. Maybe there was some kind of trauma in childhood or just in times we have long forgotten. Or maybe we already have age-related phenomena or unevenly developed muscles in certain parts of the body ... There may be many reasons, but the essence of the issue is always the same: the features of the physical development of the bones and muscles of the whole body inevitably affect the condition of our legs. Quite often it goes like this. that one leg suffers more than the other - it all depends on the location of the defect.

In the case of an obvious neurological syndrome, we will have to pay great attention to the issues of stress relief. The easiest option is known to everyone: a month on light antidepressants plant origin. For example, tincture of motherwort or valerian. You can also focus on more modern drugs: Novopassite, Perse-ne, Notte, etc. If the problem is more like an injury (one leg in the evenings feels much more strained than the other), you can not drink antidepressants . But in both cases, along with other measures such as relaxing baths, aromatherapy and meditation, we will have to pay attention to the fascia, its fiber and its condition.

Our problem now is. that the fascia has lost the ability to straighten itself. This phenomenon is not so new to our body. Haven't we ever "enough" the neck after a long day at the computer? Or there were no “lumbago” in the lower back after the “shock” weekend spent on suburban area? Of course, both have happened at least once in a lifetime, but this happens to every person in the world.

Now the same thing is happening with the fascia - it has shrunk and cannot relax. We know that the best remedy against such spasms is a massage - and preferably in-depth. Dry heat can then be applied to the affected area. The next day after both procedures, a “luxurious” hematoma will pop up in this place - blood released by massage from a pinched muscle area. On the other hand, the airy ease of movement that we will gain in this area will seem familiar to us, but forgotten in childhood.

If we've done this before, we'll orient ourselves in the case of the leg. If, however, we treated the lower back and shoulder with ridiculous compresses of ice or, conversely, mustard and fixing bandages, we each time made a big mistake. Namely, they eliminated the effect instead of the cause. From now on, we will know that a spasm differs from a sprain in only one condition: if we received a “backache” when trying to lift more than 20 kg in a jerk. We are definitely stretching. And if it “shot” during a sharp movement (when we grabbed the handrail in the subway), there is nothing to damage the muscles with, and we have a regular spasm.

A warm compress will certainly help. From the third or fifth time, but it will help. We are like a week, not being able to turn our heads in the affected direction even a millimeter. Plus, we are pretty tormented with round-the-clock painkillers. Then we will live quietly for another week after the pain from this “lumbago” gradually subsides. And in the end, the situation will inevitably repeat itself - a situation that in reality could be completely resolved in hours and prevented for a very long time ...

So, the first thing you need to learn how to do with strained foot syndrome is foot massage. Preferably both, even if one of them doesn't bother you for an hour or doesn't bother you much. We should take any suitable position in which we can freely, with any effort, press our fingers inside the arch of the foot. Fascia is a relatively large muscle, more precisely, the largest muscle of the foot, but its size cannot be compared even with the triceps muscle of the forearm. Therefore, her massage does not require any special skill or supernatural efforts. The main thing to remember is that the slightest pressure with a fingertip deep into the edematous and pinched fiber will inevitably be painful.

If we have ever been in the massage therapist's office, we probably remember: he warned that it would be painful, and kept his promise. So, the pain will be now - burning, aching, but without "lumbago". It should be remembered that it is not only not a reason to stop warming up - it is a reason to continue it. There is nothing anomalous in this. For comparison and to make sure, we press the finger deeper into some point on the surface, say, the thighs or buttocks. And, having felt the same pain there, we will repeat the experiment with any point, say, the wrist. Nothing like that, right?

We can draw two conclusions from our experiment:

pain when pressing inside the fascia fiber is not unique to it. In exactly the same way, any overworked and edematous muscle will hurt, which means that we do not injure it during massage. We injured her much earlier;
by comparing how much the muscles of the arms and legs hurt, we can easily guess which of them need our help more and for what reason. In our ordinary life, the hands do not do even a third of the work that falls to the legs. So why would they really hurt? If it’s hard for us to endure, let’s try to go for a trick and make a few deep point pressures with the element of “screwing in the screw” in different places of the muscle. Let's let go, wince and wait until the burning sensation subsides in the places where we pressed. Then we'll repeat. From time to time, the pain will dull, gradually turning from burning to as if itchy. This is just great, and when the sensations become more or less bearable, we can greatly speed up the process by starting a continuous, intense massage of the entire arch.

We will have to endure such a painful procedure only for the first time, although we will not be able to do without a session of a comprehensive, deep foot massage that opens our therapeutic season. It should definitely be done once, even if due to excess weight or loss of flexibility, we will need to resort to outside help.

Until we remove the spasm that has kept the muscle in tension for weeks, we will not restore blood circulation in it by any tricks. In the meantime, stagnant blood does not leave the vessels, the muscle will not be able to start the restoration of its fibers. There is no way out - you have to somehow contrive and be patient.

To further maintain the muscle in a normal state, a deep massage of its fibers can be done no more than twice a week. And during the second session, we ourselves will feel that the pain we experienced for the first time is not even in sight, at most the muscle aches slightly at the first pressure. And in the interval between such a profound impact, we can limit ourselves to a few simple exercises, which will help relieve daytime fatigue and help the feet relax in a matter of minutes. By the way, many of these techniques improve overall well-being and restore good spirits even after a day full of unpleasant events:

We will purchase a rubber or plastic mat with a well-cut relief on the surface in the store. Only a rug with a pointed “decor” should be taken on only one condition - if these spikes are soft and do not damage the skin. On such a rug you can stomp in the morning, putting it right in front of the bed, or on the bottom of the bath when we go to the shower. A relaxing exercise with a relief rug in the evenings should be carried out by letting a trickle through it warm water. And the tonic in the morning is a trickle cool water. While we are walking on a piece of an impromptu massager, we will not forget to rub our feet on it, straighten it (even spread it out) and pull our fingers several times. Stroke them with relief pads. The procedure should be carried out for at least 15 minutes.
We can grow a many times improved version of the massager with our own hands or bring it from summer holiday on the sea. The cultivated massager is, of course, a special grass that is sown on football fields. It is very unpretentious, thick, soft and highly resistant to attempts to eradicate it. It is unreasonable to breed this in a summer cottage, because together with weeds it will “strangle” garden plants. But at home, it is often sown as pet food, as this grass is eagerly nibbled by cats. We also need a wide tray made of durable material, with a bottom perforated in several places - so that water does not accumulate at the bottom for irrigation. A layer of soil should be poured into the basin (a universal mixture is more suitable), sow the grass, water and put the tray where the sun's rays will fall on it. Naturally, if there are cats in the house, the tray should be placed in a place inaccessible to them. Otherwise, we will not see this grass as our ears. When it rises, its cover should be walked every evening - as we would do it for our own pleasure, in ordinary grass. "Walking" in the home meadow should be slowly, with pleasure, with pleasant thoughts in the head, for 15-20 minutes. The simulator that we can pick up from a trip to the sea is called sand or coastal pebbles. It must be collected at least 2 kg, and upon arrival home, carefully sort, rinse and dry. The sand should contain less Shell Fragments, and it is better to choose medium-sized pebbles, without large stones. For exercises, a piece of summer brought from the sea must be poured into a wide dish made of durable material and take a short walk along it - 15-20 minutes is enough.
It is also possible to do without all these devices that require care and delivery efforts. Modern manufacturers household appliances offer us a wide range of foot massagers and baths with massage functions. If we cannot massage the foot on our own, the massager should be used in different modes and every evening. Combine it with relaxing foot bath would be a very good idea. At the end of any massage work, we will try to slightly pull the fascia in order to better control the effectiveness of the measures taken. To do this, let's take the fingers of the hand by the toes and gently pull them towards the ankle, towards ourselves. If everything is in order with us, we will be able to pull the toes freely, almost without effort. A slight pulling soreness will be felt evenly over the entire area of the arch and sole. If not, the stretch will be given with the same difficulty, at the beginning of the heel the pain will be more pronounced than anywhere else. And every attempt to take the opposite action (bend the foot down, as in ballet) will end with a aching spasm in the entire arch.

Treatment of fasciitis

It goes without saying that not all of the recommendations given in the previous section apply to fasciitis. So, attempts to pull socks on or away from you with fasciitis are dangerous and doomed to failure. It will hurt, the foot will not want to stretch and will immediately return to its previous position. And our feelings will not improve from all this, but rather worsen - both now and in the morning.

It will take much longer to treat fasciitis than a tense foot. And therapy should begin incomparably more smoothly. Massage at the stage of already existing inflammation will not only help nothing, it can also do much harm. By the way, in addition to massage with fasciitis, in no case should acupuncture be used.

The first thing we need to do is to remove the load from the fascia as much as possible by shifting it to any other part of the foot or shoe. High heels, narrow toe, platform, rigid polyurethane and heavy rubber soles will definitely have to be abandoned for the duration of treatment. It is necessary to switch to sports shoes, by all means inserting orthopedic insoles into it. With advanced fasciitis, the arch of the diseased foot can be deformed. Then the patient's gait becomes like one-sided flat feet. Plus, the sore leg is repelled from the floor when stepping not with the fingers, but with the middle of the arch, which only exacerbates the difference in the movement of the two different legs. Therefore, sports shoes alone will not be enough here: the sore muscle has not supported the arch for a long time, as it should normally. And this function will temporarily have to be taken over by all the additional devices that we can choose individually.

Well, as for the insoles, they are best made to order, according to the measurements of your foot. But you can also buy ready-made - after the most careful fitting, of course. And when choosing sneakers, we should take into account their design, since sports shoes also come in different shapes, optimized for different sports.

Our sneakers must have:

light and springy foam sole, covered with a layer of rubber only on the sole - so that it does not wear out too quickly;
secure heel and toe support. That is, sneakers with a heel formed by a series of rubber springs or a sole molded in the shape of a horseshoe. looks unusual, which can attract our attention. But shoes of this type are designed for sports that require frequent jumps in different directions. They play basketball and tennis, do sprints and shuttle runs, etc. But they don’t suit us at all because of the complex balance of the heel with every movement. Therefore, the heel hour of the sole of our sneakers should be solid;
the heel in our sneakers should be 5-7 mm higher than the toe. This rise is equally necessary for both men and women - to avoid the effect of tipping the body back;
the middle part of the sole should repeat natural form feet (the footprint from the shoe should follow the contour of a normal foot, and not a flat one, that is, the inside of the sole should not be imprinted on the floor);
the sole in the middle part should be equipped with hard outer arch supports. As a rule, they are molded from hard plastic (much harder than any other part of the sole) and painted in various colors. That is, they also perform a decorative function. The arch supports we need will be wide, slightly concave inward, located along the sole, and not across it;
the sole on the toe cannot be too thin. That is, its thickness should not be less than 1 cm. Shoes with thin soles look more elegant, but it should be remembered that we will not rise on our toes on our own. Therefore, at each step, between our stiff fingers and the floor, there must be a gasket capable of bending under the pressure of the pads - a shock absorber;
the toes of sneakers should be wide and high enough so that the fingers are free in them, and if desired, we could even move them slightly;
the upper part of the shoe on the sides in the middle should taper somewhat - in accordance with the natural narrowing of the foot in this place. Shoes, called "shoes" ( special kind youth footwear, flat sneakers deliberately greatly expanded at the sides), requires great effort from the feet to keep it on the leg. Since the "shoes" are almost not fixed by lacing, the feeling of wearing them is in many ways reminiscent of walking in sandals - the shoes slam on the heel with every step and strive to jump off. Sandals without fixing the heel are not suitable for every fashionista, but for fasciitis similar effect contraindicated.

It is forbidden for us to massage the fascia in this state of affairs. However, we absolutely must begin to slowly relieve the spasm and fatigue of its fiber, otherwise this treatment can stretch for months, spent almost in vain. The question arises: how can we stretch the fiber without resorting to an active warm-up, which it may not withstand?

As already mentioned, the main enemy of the muscles is not at all a lot of weight or rhythmic, intense, long-term work. In fact, they can work, constantly contracting and relaxing, for hours, and this will not bring them any problems. If we do not forget to supply them with new portions of sugar with food on time, nothing tragic will happen - they will simply get tired in order. But if we force the muscles of the body to freeze for a long time in a tense position, we will always have enough complications even without weights in our hands. Hence the conclusion: our fascia in normal mode doesn't work the way it's supposed to.

Perhaps this is due to our excess weight. Perhaps the point is that over the years our metatarsal bones straighten, the arch of the foot sags to the floor and stretches the fascia more than it should be. Perhaps it's our habit of carrying weights in only one hand. It is even possible that we have been crouching on this particular leg for a long time due to some problems with posture or the bones of the sacrum / pelvis. In any case, when walking, she strained more than usual for a long time and stayed in this state for longer than necessary. And now, as the pathology progresses, its fiber is already undergoing degeneration itself. That is, it cannot recover from the load due to impaired blood supply and simply collapses.

We have already removed the load from it, let our new sneakers and insoles inserted into them work for the muscle for now. It remains to try to accelerate the process of resorption of blood clots in its fibers due to more diverse movements of these fibers without weight. And, of course, not without the help of physiotherapy procedures.

To bring back the fascia feeling normal operation for compression-stretching, we will apply gymnastics for the feet:

Let's take slippers and socks off our feet, sit on the floor without a carpet, bend our knees and pull them towards us so that our bare feet can stand freely on the floor. Let's put a handful of coins, pebbles of any shape, glass balls for decoration right under the toes. In a word, any objects a little less or a little more than 1 cm in diameter - objects that it will not be difficult for us to grab with our toes from the floor. Small dishes should be placed next to and to the side of the foot. And now we need, without lifting our heels from the floor for a second, to cover one or two pebbles in turn with our toes, turn the foot to the bowl and put them into it. It will be unnecessary to exercise for more than 20 minutes, even if we did not transfer all the items. And having worked with one foot, you need to immediately move on to the other.
We sit on the floor in the previous position: pulling our legs to the chin so that the feet stand freely on the floor. By the way, in order not to overload the lower back, this can be done against the wall, leaning on it with your shoulders - it will become much easier to keep balance. No matter how we choose, we should take our toes with our fingers and pull them slightly, only not up, towards us, but forward, as if we want to stretch them a little in length. Count to three, release. Repeat 5-7 times.
We sit in our previous position on the floor, confidently put our bare feet on it and “drive” them forward, away from ourselves as far as the contraction of the Achilles tendon allows us. Let's stop at the point where the feet are already trying to get off the floor, and put a waffle towel or any dense cotton fabric under the fingers. Grab this fabric with your toes and begin to pull it along the floor along with your feet back towards you. It is impossible to play any parts of the foot from the floor. 2-3 such passages from a far point to a near one will be enough. You should not move the towel away from you - you need to shift it back only with your hands.
Sitting on the floor, we stretch our legs forward and slightly spread them apart so that there is room for movement. Of course, in this case, the feet should not stand on the floor, but “look” at the ceiling - as usual, when we sit with our legs extended along the surface. Our task now is to freely, without the action of weight or the application of other forces, wave our feet back and forth and left and right. Rotations can be preferred to pendulum movements to the sides. The feet need to be moved only as widely and actively as it is given to us with minimal effort. It is impossible to “squeeze” the sore muscle all the way in any direction. If we notice. that the amplitude of free movement of the diseased foot gradually equalizes in comparison with the healthy one, we can congratulate ourselves on the clear success in the treatment.

Of course, all these warm-ups and other measures are recommended to be combined with the therapy of edema and inflammation. Edema will be especially noticeable at the end of the next day spent at work. Even in orthopedic insoles, and even if most of the time we sat, as befits people with sore feet. Well. it is not difficult to deal with the edema itself: it can be easily reduced by attaching a container of ice prepared in advance to it. Suitable plastic bottle 0.5 l or, even better, ice in cubes, laid out in a plastic bag. You can also get reusable drink coolers - plastic balls filled with water. These balls are frozen like ordinary ice in molds, and are placed as needed to cool drinks that do not need to be diluted with ice.

The ice prepared in advance should be poured into a bag, tied tightly and applied to the foot, closer to the heel than to the fingers, for 10-15 minutes. An option is to put it on the floor and place the foot on top. Then you should not strongly press the bag or bottle with your foot, but slightly - it is quite acceptable. You can do with our cooler as we did with a rubber mat, grass and pebbles - knead it with your fingers, roll the sole on it.

Only to do all this is necessary only sitting or even lying down. If we can still afford to be treated with strained foot syndrome when the weight of the whole body presses on the fascia, then with fasciitis we are prescribed to strictly avoid such combinations.

If there is not so much swelling as inflammation (the foot is hot, “shoots through” when moving, when you feel a hard swelling near the heel, it is not always reasonable to treat it with heat. With inflammation and spasm of the shoulder, we would have applied a mustard plaster without hesitation, and we were right. But the fascia in many patients reacts to local heating with an increased tendency to edema instead of the expected relief. If we could eliminate the very cause of blood stasis, this would not happen. But since we are forced to influence it entirely by indirect methods, the high temperature in the tissues can enhance the coagulation (coagulation) of the crumb. And since the blood flow in this area is already disturbed, we risk getting an aggravation of the problem.

So with fasciitis, it is better to remove inflammation with injections of purely medical preparations. Antibiotics are useless here (after all, there is no infection), but corticosteroid hormones will be quite appropriate - they will increase muscle activity naturally, relieve pain and indirectly reduce inflammation. However, if hormonal drugs cause us legitimate doubts (they can disrupt the work of the adrenal glands and pituitary gland), it is permissible to resort to other options. For example, fix the ankle with a plaster cast or walk around in a splint for the foot for a while. However, you can try some traditional medicine. Just before using them, you should remember that all these components should be applied to the arch of the foot for a long time and in a cold form.

So we can choose from:

plantain leaves: grind fresh leaves until juice appears, put the whole gruel in gauze, bandage it to the arch of the foot closer to the heel. Dry plantain needs to be brewed: 1 tbsp. a spoonful of herbs in 1 glass of water, let it boil, cook under the lid on the slowest fire for 10 minutes. Then let it cool and strain, soak gauze folded several times in the broth, attach to the base of the heel and fix until it dries;
comfrey leaf: attach and fix until it wilts if the leaf is fresh. You can crush it to release the juice. If dry, proceed as described above with plantain;
celandine grass: take only in dry form, since celandine is poisonous. But it is very good as an anti-inflammatory agent. 1 st. a spoonful of dry celandine grass should be poured with 1 cup of boiling water, heated in a water bath for 10 minutes, cooled and drained. Make a swab of cotton and gauze, soak it in a decoction, put it in the recess of the arch and fix it for 30 minutes. Do not use a decoction of celandine for more than 7 days in a row;
Finally, there is another remedy that noticeably improves the condition of all joints of the body, accelerates their regeneration, and helps restore cartilage and tendon tissue. The remedy is shark oil. The product is sold in the dietary supplements department, in a pharmacy. Shark oil is recommended to be applied to the skin of the foot and rubbed as intensively as the condition of the fascia allows. If it does not allow this, you should thickly smear the arch with fat, bandage it on top, then put on a tight sock.

And by the way, one more nuance. If we have problems with any of the muscles of the body, during the period of their recovery after an injury, we need to consume a sufficient amount of protein with food. All body cells are built not from carbohydrates and not even from fat - they are built from amino acids, into which all varieties of meat and fish break down in our stomach. Therefore, if we are vegetarians or just not meat lovers, with any muscle damage, we will have to temporarily sacrifice our food preferences for necessity. The average person without sports training and a large muscle mass you need to eat 150 g of meat or fish per day.

Heel pain, which gets worse with normal walking and running, is not just an unpleasant problem, such a symptom can signal the development of a disease called plantar fasciitis. What is this disease and is it possible to treat it at home.

Why does the heel hurt

Plantar fasciitis is popularly referred to as a heel spur due to the peculiar bone growth that appears with this disease. Heel pain is due to severe inflammation and deformities of the plantar fascia, the part of the sole that connects the heel and the phalanges of the fingers.

The appearance of plantar fasciitis is provoked by the following factors:

the presence of flat feet, as well as a high arch of the foot;
overweight;
physical activity, long standing;
osteochondrosis, joint diseases - arthritis, arthrosis.

The main symptom of this disease is acute pain in the heel, which can occur after waking up. Swelling appears on the leg, and over time, pain can move to the arch of the foot and ankle.

Diagnosing plantar fasciitis is easy. A visual examination and x-ray will be enough for the doctor.

How to treat:

For the treatment of plantar fasciitis, it is necessary, first of all, to reduce the load on the foot and limit mobility. You can put special orthopedic insoles into the shoes, which will help to fix the heel well and keep the foot at the right angle to the lower leg. At night, at home, you can wear special orthoses-boots that stretch the plantar fascia and allow it to heal.
Undeniable benefits various massages in the treatment of fasciitis. Also, a person with such a disease should not forget about physical exercise aimed at stretching the fascia and lower leg, which can be done at home.
In addition to the above methods, various physiotherapy procedures help well in the treatment of plantar fasciitis. Warming up, ultrasound, laser exposure - doctors recommend for maximum effect do them regularly.
With a strongly pronounced non-passing pain syndrome, you can use anti-inflammatory drugs. non-hormonal ointments. Quickly relieve pain Indomethacin, Advil, Diclofenac.
In very severe and advanced cases, the doctor can conduct a course of injections with hormonal drugs, they must be placed in the fascia area. If this method does not help, you may need surgery. During such an operation, the doctor will remove the bone growth and altered tissues.

Recipes that have stood the test of time

Supplement drug therapy at home, you can always use folk remedies. Effective in the fight against heel spurs are garlic compresses with bacon, horseradish with laundry soap, cinquefoil root, sunflower flowers.

You can also try making whey and walnut foot baths.

Lotions from hot boiled potatoes, beetroot juice, mixed with apple cider vinegar, psyllium seeds will also have an anti-inflammatory, analgesic effect.

Video

plantar fasciitis(inflammation of the plantar fascia) is often diagnosed in women aged 40 and older. Doctors call the main causes of the disease:

Prolonged wearing of uncomfortable shoes.
Availability overweight body.
Diabetes, gout and other diseases.
Flat feet, circulatory and metabolic disorders in the lower extremities.
Previous foot injuries (especially for people who are professionally involved in sports).

It can be difficult to recognize and start treatment in a timely manner, because the disease in the early stages can manifest itself in the form of swelling and fatigue of the legs. After some time, patients may notice an increase in pain in the heel area, which will persist even at rest. That is why if you are in at least one of the risk groups, you begin to notice discomfort in your feet, you should contact a specialist as soon as possible.

Despite the warnings of doctors, many patients who have been diagnosed with fasciitis prefer to treat themselves at home using folk recipes. Judging by the reviews, such remedies as medical bile, salt, iodine, honey, propolis, etc. help relieve pain, swelling of soft tissues, restore blood circulation and metabolism. Medicines made on the basis of these components must be taken in courses, given the presence contraindications. In some patients, complexly using both folk and traditional methods treatment, relief came quickly enough, most of the unpleasant symptoms passed. That is why it is necessary to list the common folk ways to eliminate plantar fasciitis.

Medical bile against inflammation

Medicinal bile, which was used in ancient times as a treatment for joint diseases, helps to relieve the unpleasant symptoms of fasciitis. You can find this drug at any pharmacy, and you do not need a prescription from a doctor to purchase it. The following bile-based recipes will eliminate heel pain, reduce soft tissue swelling, and normalize metabolism:

Mix bile and vodka in a 1:1 ratio. Soak your sore feet in hot water, and then apply a bandage soaked in medicinal composition. Place parchment on top wax paper, apply an elastic bandage and put on a woolen sock. It is more expedient to do such warming compresses at night for 20-25 days (usually after this time there comes a noticeable relief).
A compress of vodka, shampoo and bile will not only relieve pain, but also make the skin soft and supple. To prepare this remedy, you will need 20 grams of vodka (or alcohol) and shampoo, as well as 50 grams of medical bile. The composition is also applied to gauze and applied to sore spots.
There are other folk recipes using bile from plantar fasciitis, however, the above can be called not only effective, but also easy to manufacture.

Egg and Vinegar

An ointment made from vinegar, eggs and honey used to be famous for its anti-inflammatory and regenerating properties. To prepare such a remedy for plantar fasciitis, you must take egg and place it in a container with vinegar for several days (vinegar can be any - apple, rice, etc.). During this time, the shell will dissolve, and the egg-vinegar essence will remain in the cup. The resulting ingredient must be poured into a large container, add 30–50 g of natural butter and mix thoroughly. The finished drug should be applied to a piece of bandage or gauze, applied to the heel spur all night, providing the sick foot with peace and warmth.

Aspirin for plantar fasciitis

Aspirin, familiar to everyone, has an anti-inflammatory and analgesic effect on plantar fasciitis, eliminating most unpleasant symptoms. With a course of treatment with folk remedies based on aspirin, you can not only get rid of acute pain in the heel area, but also improve blood circulation and metabolism in the tissues affected by the disease.

The easiest way is to prepare a solution of aspirin and vodka by mixing the components in the proportion of 10 tablets per 250 ml of liquid. As soon as the remedy is infused (1–1.5 days), it must be applied to a piece of gauze and applied to the sore heel overnight. In order to avoid rapid drying of the matter, polyethylene is placed on top, fixing it elastic bandage and wearing a woolen sock. Relief occurs in about 7-14 days. If the solution is very dry and corrodes the skin, in the morning it should be treated with a greasy cream or natural butter.

Treatment of plantar fasciitis with iodine

Folk remedies based on an iodine-alcohol solution are in great demand among patients who have been diagnosed with plantar fasciitis. Their main difference is ease of preparation, as well as impressive efficiency. During the course of treatment, many patients stopped complaining about sharp pains in the heel, they noticed the appearance of ease when walking, a decrease in swelling and a burning sensation.

Iodine baths

This method of treatment does not require special time and material costs, because to prepare the medicine you need to take 2-5 tbsp. l. iodine solution and dilute them in 3 liters of hot water. Baths should be taken daily for 20 minutes. After the procedure is completed, the feet are wiped dry, an iodine mesh is applied to the heel and woolen socks are put on. In addition, you can simply immerse your heels in a concentrated solution of iodine for 5-10 minutes. With this treatment, the active ingredient penetrates the skin, stopping the process of inflammation of the soft tissues.

Sea salt for heel spurs

Maritime and salt also well proven in the treatment of plantar fasciitis. This substance has an anti-inflammatory and warming effect, allows you to normalize metabolism and blood circulation in soft tissues.

Compresses with sea salt, iodine and honey

To prepare this remedy, you will need 50 ml of an iodine-alcohol solution, a tablespoon of honey and a teaspoon of salt. All components must be thoroughly mixed, then applied to a piece of gauze or a cotton swab, applied to a sore spot and fixed with an elastic bandage. It is more expedient to do such a procedure at night, providing the foot with warmth and peace.

Salt massage

Daily massage with salt heated in a frying pan will help relieve pain in fasciitis. With course treatment, in some cases, complete elimination of the disease was observed.

Salt baths

Preparing a bath with salt, which will eliminate the pain and burning sensation of a heel spur, is very simple. To do this, you need to dissolve a pack of table or sea salt in hot water, wait until the water cools slightly and immerse the sore heels in it. The procedure continues until the water cools to room temperature. The course of treatment is 10-14 days.

Folk remedies based on burdock

Fresh burdock leaves can also stop the inflammatory process in plantar fasciitis, improve blood circulation, and help eliminate toxins and waste from soft tissues. In order for the plant to begin to have healing properties on the feet affected by the disease, you just need to apply this natural remedy to the sore heel, fix it with an elastic bandage and put on a woolen sock. As soon as the burdock leaf dries, you should take a fresh one and repeat the procedure.

Crushed burdock leaf with the addition of a tablespoon of castor oil can get rid of the unpleasant symptoms of fasciitis, as well as soften cracked and irritated skin in the heel spur area. In most cases, improvement becomes noticeable after 7-14 days from the start of treatment.

Honey and propolis in the fight against plantar fasciitis

Bee products (honey and propolis) are also used as folk remedies for getting rid of plantar fasciitis. From these components, you can make decoctions, compresses, ointments. For example, you can make a natural ointment from honey and wheat flour by mixing the ingredients in a 1:1 ratio. The resulting mass should be thoroughly kneaded, shaped into a cake and applied to the heel spur. During course treatment active ingredients contained in honey, normalize metabolic processes, relieve pain, reduce swelling of inflamed tissues.

A similar effect can be achieved by preparing propolis-vaseline ointment. To do this, you need to combine the components in a ratio of 1: 2, respectively, and mix them thoroughly. You can add a small amount of butter to the finished mass. Propolis medicine for fasciitis is applied to diseased feet every day until complete recovery (during the procedure, you need to provide warmth and rest to the feet).

In conclusion, it should be said that folk remedies for plantar fasciitis cannot be used as the main method of treatment. To completely eliminate the disease, it is necessary to apply traditional methods - massage, physiotherapy, medications. It is also necessary to provide unloading for sick feet, wear comfortable, observe sleep and wakefulness. Only in this case it is possible to achieve a noticeable improvement in the condition, to stop the development of the disease.

while walking and physical activity muscles and skeletal system are under tremendous pressure. More than others, the legs suffer, which take on the entire weight of a person, and therefore the development of such an unpleasant disease as plantar or plantar fasciitis is possible. This is one of the most common pathologies diagnosed by an orthopedist - more than 10% of all diseases. musculoskeletal system. With the aggravation of the course of the disease, it becomes the cause of the growth of the periosteum - the formation of osteophytes, spike-like growths, called the heel spur.

The mechanism of development and symptoms

The plantar fascia is attached to the calcaneal tuberosity, supporting the longitudinal arch of the foot. With systematic or increased loads, the ligament undergoes mechanical trauma, which causes the development of an inflammatory process. With the normal functioning of the body and the absence of serious pathologies, in most cases self-healing occurs. Regenerative abilities compensate for micro-ruptures, fascia tissue is restored and the disease disappears without even starting.

However, with the instability of the work of individual organ systems, reduced immunity or other failures, the regression of the inflammatory process does not occur. The tissue of the plantar ligament is gradually replaced by a connective one, the elasticity of the aponeurosis decreases, and pain occurs.

Plantar fasciitis is a secondary pathology that develops against the background of other diseases that contribute to its progression. Symptoms usually come on at an increasing rate. At first, the patient is only concerned about pain during long walking or running, increased fatigue. Then the discomfort intensifies, occurs with any attempt to get up or walk. With insufficient treatment of plantar fasciitis, the pain becomes constant. Many patients compare her character to a stuck nail in the heel. It does not leave a person even at rest.

The disease causes degeneration of the structure of the plantar fascia, which leads to

Change in gait;
clubfoot;
The appearance of heel spurs;
Lameness.

The clinical picture is quite bright:

morning pain;
A clear localization of pain is determined with recoil to the calf muscle and toes;
The nature of the pain is sharp, cutting.

Plantar fasciitis mainly affects people over 40 years of age, when age-related changes in the body affect normal flow standard processes. There are intermittent malfunctions of cardio-vascular system, the bones become less strong, the development of age-related pathologies is observed - diabetes, thrombosis.

Etiology

In the international classification of diseases of the 10th revision, the disease has the code M72.2 and is classified as a pathology. connective tissue and musculoskeletal system. The causes of plantar fasciitis are varied, but mainly include various disorders within the skeletal system:

Degenerative changes in the joints;
flat feet;
Congenital defects of the calcaneus.

In ICD-10, the source of the development of pathology is understood as the loss of the fascia's ability to regenerate. In addition to the above, experts note the following reasons:

A prolonged inflammatory process in the fascia leads to the formation of a heel spur, which exacerbates all symptoms and is less amenable to therapy.

Plantar fasciitis of the foot develops due to an irrational lifestyle, bad habits and excessive stress. This complex of factors may not lead to the onset of the disease, however, over time, accumulated toxins, toxins, food debris, fats, against the background of hypodynamia and beriberi, will necessarily lead to a number of disturbances in the normal functioning of the body.

Diagnostics

Usually, visual examination and history taking is sufficient for diagnosis, however, if the patient has comorbidities with identical symptoms, they should be differentiated from inflammation of the plantar ligament. Plantar fasciitis in its manifestations and signs can be similar to rheumatoid arthritis or Reiter's syndrome. In order to prescribe the correct treatment regimen, you need to know exactly the nature of the disease, its root causes and development paths.

To diagnose a spur on the heel, an x-ray of the foot is taken to ascertain bone formation, however, initial stage when the inflammatory process has just begun, there may not be any wedge-shaped growth. In this case, the patient is sent for general and biochemical blood tests. Enhanced Level leukocytes will show the presence of inflammation in the body. Additionally, MRI and ultrasound of the heel, weighing, and tests for sugar levels can be prescribed.

To find out the cause, the orthopedist carefully collects information about the nature of pain, concomitant manifestations, and the duration of discomfort. Symptoms and treatment of plantar fasciitis are inextricably linked: the specialist selects a pathology elimination scheme, referring to its signs, which determine the stage of its development and the intensity of negative dynamics.

Therapy

Standard medical practice suggests conservative treatment fasciitis. Radical elimination methods are used if sparing therapy has not led to any result. There is an extensive list possible techniques to get rid of the diagnosis of heel fasciitis: drug treatment, physiotherapy, massage, exercise therapy, folk remedies. The feasibility of using any of the options is determined by the doctor in each case.

Physiotherapy

Before deciding how to treat plantar fasciitis, it is necessary to explore all the ways of physiotherapy intervention. The most popular method is shock wave therapy. In addition to it, there are the following hardware capabilities of modern medicine:

ultrasound therapy;
Balneotherapy;
Magnetotherapy;
electrophoresis;
Infrared and ultraviolet radiation;
X-ray therapy.

All of these methods help improve blood circulation in the fascia tissue, relieve pain, and relax the muscles of the foot. If you steadily follow the doctor's advice regarding the number of procedures, their duration and duration general course therapy, the desired result can be achieved very soon.

Massage

With the help of massage possible treatment plantar fasciitis at home. In addition to being pleasant in itself, this method can be applied outside the hospital walls and, without changing familiar environment, which positively affects the patient's condition and his attitude to the problem at the psychological level.

Massage helps to reduce swelling, blood flow to the legs, which makes it possible to make it more elastic and elastic. The flow of lymph to damaged tissues enriches them with oxygen and nutrients.

exercise therapy

The inhibition of regeneration with spurs is caused by the loss of the ability of the plantar ligament to stretch, which is necessary when moving, performing any actions. Treatment of plantar fasciitis through specific exercises helps develop muscle tissue and reduce the risk of injury.

Orthopedists have developed a whole range of training in order to get rid of an unpleasant disease and reduce the risk of its recurrence. Exercises can be performed at home, after consulting with a specialist. The frequency and number of approaches is also discussed with the doctor, depending on the individual characteristics of the patient.

Medicines

If a non-pharmacological means unable to cope with the disease, the question arises which drugs help with plantar fasciitis. Due to the characteristics of the disease and the main symptoms, oral preparations include painkillers that help alleviate the patient's condition and partial recovery his ability to work and ability to move.

Medicines used specifically for the treatment of fasciitis are a variety of ointments. Local application of medications in the area of the foot provides a targeted action of the drugs and a faster effect. Among the most common ointments are Hydrocortisone, Prednisolone, Vishnevsky Ointment.

Specialized ointments for plantar fasciitis are:

Golden mustache;
Cream Ortho Tiger's eye;
Shark oil;
Croc Honey;
Cream-balm SporNet;
Stop Spur.

ethnoscience

Before treating plantar fasciitis with alternative medicine, you should consult with a specialist about its effectiveness and permitted components. Popular among the population are ointments, compresses and lotions made on the basis of natural ingredients. Such therapy is not capable of harming the patient, but its effectiveness is not always sufficient. In the advanced stages of the disease, only radical surgical intervention can help the patient.

Treatment of plantar fasciitis gives a quick and visible result only if it is timely. When the disease has not yet caused deformation and degeneration of the structure of the plantar ligament, medicinal herbs and medications, coupled with exercise therapy and massage, will give a positive effect. However, if the patient stubbornly refuses to contact a specialist and relies on his own knowledge and strength, the process can drag on for a long time.

Prevention

To avoid the occurrence of pathology, you should adhere daily simple rules. Prevention measures for plantar fasciitis include:

Proper nutrition;
Use of comfortable shoes;
Adequacy of physical activity;
Maintaining normal weight;
Stretching before sports training, performed to prepare all muscle groups for the upcoming load.

A disease such as fasciitis of the sole can occur in any person. It is impossible to insure 100% against this unpleasant phenomenon, but following preventive recommendations and excluding most of the possible causes of the development of the disease will reduce the risks of its occurrence.

The most important thing is to carefully monitor the state of your skeletal system and respond sensitively to body signals, in this case it is possible to prevent destructive processes and get rid of the disease at the very beginning. Prevention of plantar inflammation is always easier than cure.