Plantar Fasciitis and plantar heel pain can be difficult to treat. Unlike muscles that have plenty of blood vessels, the bottoms of our feet have layers of connective tissue with poor blood flow. Conventional treatment options often fall into 2 categories:
- Structural support: night splints, walking boot, crutches or orthotics
- Pain management: Ibuprofen, topical pain relief
Most of these treatments only provide temporary relief at best, and don’t get to the root problem. Patients suffering from plantar pain can’t enjoy their favorite sports or activities.
My own personal battle with Plantar Fasciitis led me to research other powerful therapies to relieve the pain and heal the tissue. The key to successfully treating Plantar Fasciitis is to focus on the cellular health of the plantar fascia. When the cells are well nourished and hydrated, they are less inflamed and less brittle. Combining both microcurrent therapy with Low-Level Laser Therapy (LLT) was a game-changer in my own healing.
Step 1: Rest from Activities & Get Deep Sleep
If you have active foot pain, you must stop and rest. It’s very difficult to get ahead of the pain and inflammation if you are constantly exercising and pushing through the pain. Sleep is also a really important component to healing that we often overlook. The majority of the body’s healing occurs when we are in deep sleep, so a priority in my treatment plan is to help you achieve the deeper stages of sleep.
Step 2: Improve Cellular Health at the Plantar Fascia
Breaking your dependency on “bandaid” treatments like splints and pain killers is very important. I often see patients cause further damage and tearing when they take pain killers because they are unaware of the damage they are causing. My treatment of choice is to use microcurrent therapy and LLT to target the cells deep in the plantar fascia. These gentle and painless therapies improve the ATP (energy) production at the cellular level, thus accelerating the repair process.
Step 3: Improve Local Circulation
Improving circulation to the feet will help carry more nutrients to the area to aid repair. The circulation will also help flush away the waste products caused by inflammation. Both LLT and microcurrent therapy can improve the micro-circulation on the bottom of the feet. Other strategies can include earthing, acupressure, hydrotherapy and alternating hot and cold therapies
Imagine getting out of bed and taking your first few steps completely pain free! We want to help you get back into your favorite activities, whether it’s hiking, pickleball or gardening!
Give Brio Integrative Health Centre a call to book in your Low-Level Laser Therapy Treatment today! 604-271-9355
In Health,
Dr. Jeffrey Lee, ND, R.Ac.
