You know what they say—the first step is always the hardest. The proverb in question, of course, is a metaphor for personal change. But if you have plantar fasciitis, it’s literally true!
There are many different causes of heel pain, from tendon tears and bone bruises to nerve damage and more, but one of the hallmarks of plantar fasciitis is first-step pain after rest. There’s often no warning whatsoever before you experience it the first time—no obvious injury or trauma, and even if you’ve been extra active for a few days, you may have gone to bed feeling just fine. But when you set your foot down the next morning, a sharp and throbbing pain may be enough to bring you to your knees!
If the cause of your pain really is plantar fasciitis, you’ll probably feel it along the underside of your heel, near the arch. It’s at this point where the plantar fascia, a thick band of tissue, is most likely to stretch, swell, and tear. During the night (or during any lengthy rest period where you take a load off for a while, like watching a movie or driving a car), that tissue contracts. When you put weight on your foot, it’s suddenly forced to lengthen again, and doesn’t much care for the experience.
Give it a few minutes, and the worst of the pain will probably be gone. But there’s a good chance it’ll still hurt, at least a little. There’s also a good chance that, if you do nothing, it’ll keep happening every morning, again and again.
If the situation I’ve just described sounds just like what you’re going through, here’s your game plan: rest, do some stretches, use ice and/or OTC anti-inflammatories for the pain, and then make a call to the Absolute Foot Care Specialists to set up an appointment. The good news is that the vast majority of plantar fasciitis cases resolve with only conservative treatments, and at our Heel Pain Center, we can offer a wide array of state-of-the-art therapies (such as extracorporeal pulse activation treatment, or shockwave therapy) to deal with even the most serious or stubborn cases.
To schedule a time to see Dr. Noah Levine, give us a call today at (702) 839-2010.
