Plantar Fasciitis

About 1 in 10 people have plantar fasciitis during their lifetime — and if you’re living with frequent heel pain, you could be one of them. At Susz Podiatry & Wound Care, leading board-certified podiatrist John Susz, DPM, FACFAS, and the skilled team offer plantar fasciitis treatment to quickly end your heel pain.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is plantar fasciitis?

Plantar fasciitis describes inflammation in the ligament (plantar fascia) that connects your heel to your toes. Your plantar fascia stretches and contracts when you move your feet, so it’s vitally important for proper arch support, balance, and foot mechanics when walking. In plantar fasciitis, your plantar fascia develops tiny tears, leading to severe inflammation, ligament thickening, and heel pain.

What does plantar fasciitis feel like?

Many people describe plantar fasciitis as stabbing heel pain. The pain typically starts close to the back of the foot and often shoots forward to the arch. Plantar fasciitis pain comes and goes. Most people experience the most severe pain early in the day when they take their first steps.

The pain is especially bad at that time because your plantar fascia retracts overnight. Standing and walking around suddenly stretches the irritated ligament and triggers the pain. As you “warm up” and walk around, the pain lessens. But, after any period of rest, you’ll likely have the same sharp pain for at least a few minutes.

Is heel pain always plantar fasciitis?

Plantar fasciitis is, by far, the most common cause of heel pain, but other causes are possible. A few other causes may include fractures, bone bruises, and nerve entrapment of the inferior calcaneal nerve. Susz Podiatry & Wound Care offers on-site diagnosis using a physical exam, symptom evaluation, and imaging tests. While bone spurs show up on X-rays in many people with plantar fasciitis, the bone spurs aren’t the cause of the pain. They’re usually a reaction to plantar fasciitis.

What can I do about plantar fasciitis pain?

About 80% of plantar fasciitis cases resolve in 12 months without treatment — but heel pain is just too miserable to live with for that long. Susz Podiatry & Wound Care provides customized plantar fasciitis treatments to relieve your pain much faster. Most plantar fasciitis treatments are noninvasive, with some of the options being:

Custom stretching exercises
Night splint
Orthotics
Injections
Extracorporeal shockwave therapy
Ultrasound therapy

For treatment-resistant plantar fasciitis, surgery to ease ligament tension can help. There are several methods of doing so, the most common being minimally invasive approaches using local anesthesia.