Plantar Fasciitis:

The Most Common Cause of Heel Pain Revealed!

You wake up and crawl out of bed–only to feel a sharp, stabbing pain shoot up from your heel. No, you didn’t step on a tack. It’s likely plantar fasciitis, one of the most common causes of heel pain worldwide.

Plantar fasciitis is a painful condition that affects your plantar fascia, a band of tissue running along the bottom of your foot from your heel to your toes. When the plantar fascia becomes irritated, usually due to overuse, it leads to foot discomfort (which then makes it harder for you to get around).

While plantar fasciitis is painful, it can easily be treated with conservative care. The multidisciplinary team at Expert Physio Plus will work closely with you to rehabilitate your injury, providing immediate pain relief and helping you uncover what caused your plantar fasciitis in the first place.

Today, we want to give you an overview of plantar fasciitis so you know what you’re dealing with. Already struggling with foot or heel pain? Call us to schedule an appointment so we can start helping you find relief!

How Do I Know It’s Plantar Fasciitis?

Many injuries can cause foot pain, from ankle sprains to tiny stress fractures. That’s why it’s important to pay attention to the location and sensation of your foot pain, as well as any mobility issues. To help you understand the signs and symptoms of plantar fasciitis, let’s look at an example case.

Sarah had recently taken up running after several years away. She loved going out every morning and jogging around her neighborhood. But after a few weeks, she started to experience discomfort on the bottom of her foot whenever she went for a run.

The pain usually started as a sharp, stabbing pain on the bottom of her heel, but she also noticed that the arch of her foot felt tender and restricted.

After experiencing the pain for the first time, she started to notice it more frequently, and not just after her runs, either:

First thing in the morning, when she got out of bed
While standing in a long line at the grocery store
While spending a day walking around an amusement park
After watching a long movie in the theater

When Sarah eventually visited our clinic to seek treatment for her foot pain, she made sure to carefully lay out all the times she experienced pain (and all the times she didn’t; Sarah noticed the pain tended to fade around mid-morning, then flare up in the evening). That, along with her detailed explanation of the pain’s location, helped her pedorthist correctly identify her pain as plantar fasciitis.

Offering Frontline Treatment for Plantar Fasciitis

The Expert Physio Plus team’s knowledge of your body’s musculoskeletal systems means we can help you treat plantar fasciitis without invasive treatment methods (like surgery). While rehabilitation might take some time (usually a few weeks to a few months), you can resolve your pain through hands-on care and targeted foot exercises.

Here’s what you can expect when you visit us:

A thorough evaluation

Besides reviewing your symptoms, we’ll conduct a comprehensive gait assessment and other movement screens to help us identify any biomechanical factors that might contribute to your plantar fasciitis.

Pain management

We’ll help manage your acute pain through hands-on manual therapy, reflexology techniques, custom orthotics, and other specialized approaches.

Therapeutic exercise

Stretching and strengthening exercises will help resolve your current bout of plantar fasciitis. We’ll provide you with a tailored exercise program, including simple exercises you can do at home to help maximize your recovery.

Prevention tips

Plantar fasciitis is usually an overuse injury, meaning it develops gradually over time. A frequent cause of plantar fasciitis is starting an intense new workout program (as Sarah did). Faulty gait mechanics and other lifestyle factors can contribute to it as well. We’ll provide you with customized advice and strategies for avoiding future incidents of plantar fasciitis.

Our Patients Get Great Results

“Mina and his team are very good, they go beyond their duties to ensure a positive result. They care and make sure when you leave you feel much better and do feel different. The best way to really understand their work is to go and see them and you will feel the positive result ASAP. So go ahead and book an appointment. Thanks Expert Physio Plus.” – V.D.

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3 Tips for Starting a New Workout Routine With Less Risk of Injury

At our clinic, we’re big fans of exercise. Government guidelines recommend that adults get 2.5 hours of moderate to vigorous physical activity a week. However, regular exercise will boost your mental and physical health, so there’s plenty of reason to get moving!

That said, you can’t immediately jump from a completely sedentary lifestyle to intense, hour-long daily workouts. For one, you’re likely to burn out and quit regular exercise altogether. But you also run the risk of injuring yourself.

Fortunately, there are a few strategies that can help you safely start up a physically active lifestyle:

Talk to our physiotherapists or kinesiologists: Ever notice how workout videos tell you to consult with a medical professional first? If you’re new to exercising, this is crucial advice! Before you dive into a new routine, schedule an appointment at our clinic. We’ll perform a comprehensive assessment and help you guide you toward the right exercises for your needs.
Start slowly and gradually build the intensity: If you’ve ever talked to marathon runners, they’ll tell you they spend months training. No one jumps off the couch and immediately runs 26.2 miles! Follow their lead and start with low-intensity workouts. Over time, you can add more time or more challenging exercises to your routine.
Warm up and cool down: Make sure you begin every workout session with ten minutes of mobility exercises or light cardio and end each session with gentle stretches. Warm-ups prepare your body for movement, and cool-downs help bring your breathing and heart rate down to non-exercise levels.

At Expert Physio Plus, we love helping our patients get active safely and at their own pace. Call us today for personalized advice about starting your new workout routine.

Exercise of the Month

Ankle Alphabets

Start by sitting up straight in a chair. Raise one leg out in front of you. Slowly write the letters of the alphabet with your foot, only moving at your ankle joint.

3 Sets, 10 Reps. (Materials needed: chair)

Got Foot Pain? Call Us Today!

If you’re experiencing foot discomfort or immobility, your best bet is to call the team at Expert Physio Plus and schedule an initial consultation. Be prepared to discuss your symptoms in detail–and to receive a customized treatment program to help alleviate your symptoms so you can return to your favourite activities.

Request Appointment

Tips for A Heart-Healthy Valentine’s Day!

This year, don’t forget the most important Valentine of all: your heart! With February being the month of love and Canadian Heart Month, here are a few tips to combine them into one fabulous celebration:

Try a heart-healthy treat: Pomegranate seeds, good dark chocolate, and sweet strawberries are all delicious alternatives to candy hearts.
Take a ballroom dance class with your sweetheart: Nothing’s more romantic than a sweeping waltz or sultry tango. But ballroom dancing is also a great cardio workout–making it the perfect date night for Canadian Heart Month!
Sink into a relaxing bubble bath: Stress contributes to cardiovascular disease, so this month, set aside time to rest and relax with a bubble bath. Dim the lights, burn a few candles, and settle down with your favorite romantic read.

Want more healthy heart tips this February–or any month of the year? Schedule an appointment with Expert Physio Plus today!

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Loving your experience with Expert Physio Plus? We’d be thrilled if you shared the love! Your review helps others discover us, builds trust, and supports what we do every day. Click below to leave your review and let others know how our team has helped you. Thank you for being part of our community. We truly appreciate your support!

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Healthy Recipe: Yogurt Covered Strawberries

Ingredients:

12 strawberries
10 oz vanilla Greek yogurt
pink food coloring

Instructions:

Wash and thoroughly dry the strawberries. Line a plate or board with parchment paper. Dip each strawberry in yogurt, holding the leaves and leaving a little red at the top.
Place on parchment and freeze 15–20 minutes. Dip again, adding pink food coloring to the yogurt a drop at a time to create a gradient if desired. Freeze for 40–60 minutes.
Remove from the freezer only when ready to serve, as the yogurt melts quickly.

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Plantar Fasciitis: The Most Common Cause of Heel Pain Revealed!