When your heel is sore walking to the hallowed grounds of the MCG, standing in line for your $6 latte or jogging the tan, you need the best plantar fasciitis treatment Melbourne has to offer.
And that is where your team of podiatrists at PridePlus Health comes in.
Strap in, we’re going to change your life by showing you how you can overcome your heel pain.
Melbourne plantar fasciitis hits differently
A mistake that many heel pain sufferers in Melbourne make is they follow the first 3 things that comes up from trusty Dr Google.
- Stretch
- Ice
- Rest
Boring, and downright dangerous advice. Back in the day before podiatry science had the time, resources and inclination to study heel pain in depth those three things were about the best you could get.
But now we know that not treating plantar fasciitis pain effectively has links to depression, anxiety and a reduced quality of life. Serious stuff. The good news for you is that we also have effective plantar fasciitis treatment Melbourne feet can rely on.
Here’s the new top 3 things you should do for your effective plantar fasciitis treatment Melbourne podiatrists can help you with.
- Diagnosis (sounds basic but this gets missed way too often)
- Load optimisation (work your connective tissue less)
- Capacity building (train up your feet and ankles)
Plantar fasciitis treatment Melbourne starts with a diagnosis
How much time and money would you waste if your heel pain was caused by Baxter’s nerve entrapment and not plantar fasciitis?
While plantar fasciitis is the most common type of heel pain there’s 6 (!) very similar types of sore heels that require different types of treatment to resolve.
So your first step is to get an accurate and timely diagnosis.
To do this, your podiatrist in Melbourne CBD will take you through a thorough examination where you’ll get not just the what (whether you have plantar fasciitis or something else) but the why as well.
For those who live outside of Melbourne or struggle to get into the podiatrist you can take our free online heel pain test to give you your initial diagnosis.
Next, Melbourne plantar fasciitis sufferers you must reduce the load on your plantar fascia
Plantar fasciitis is an overload of the plantar fascia so to start your treatment effective you’ll need to load it less.
But as a busy Melbournian we know you can’t just walk less, run less, work less. No ones giving up their seat on a crowded tram just because you have heel pain. You have to be able to live an active life on your feet. So, for you to work your plantar fascia less – but still take the same amount of steps you’ll need to make something else do some work.
To start you have 3 options:
- Strapping tape
- Shoes
- Orthotics or insoles
Strapping tape, when applied correctly can take some of the work away from your plantar fascia. Follow this simple strapping video for immediate pain relief from plantar fasciitis.
Some shoes can make your plantar fasciitis worse, and others can make it better. Choose shoes that have a stable sole, a bit of a heel, and solid fixation. To make your life easier here’s a list of shoes to wear when you have plantar fasciitis.
Orthotics, insoles, arch supports. What ever you want to call them, these nifty devices can take some of the strain from your plantar fascia but be warned. Not all orthotics are created equal.
There’s orthotics that are designed to push up under your arch, which can be part of your plantar fasciitis treatment Melbourne plan. But there’s also some orthotics that push on the outer side of your foot. And these too can be effective for plantar fasciitis treatment Melbourne foot havers.
The tricky part is – you need to see your podiatrist to find out exactly what type of orthotic will be right for you Melbourne feet. And time for a plug – our Melbourne podiatrists are so confident in our orthotic prescription as part of your plantar fasciitis treatment Melbourne – we’ll guarantee your orthotic.
Exercises come next when treating plantar fasciitis in Melbourne
While you might not feel like it when your heel is sore – training up your plantar fascia (and calf muscles) will be important to banish your heel pain for good.
One of the beautiful things about our bodies are that they are adaptable and trainable. You can lift weights and your muscles will grow. Meditate to clear your mind. Walk to burn calories.
When it comes to your plantar fascia, you’re able to train it so that it can handle a greater workload.
To build up a strong and stretchy plantar fascia you’ll need to follow an exercise plan that puts the right amount of load in the right areas. Often, you’ll train up your feet, ankles and calves with modified calf raise exercises. One of my favourites is the folded towel calf raise.
With this exercise, you roll a towel up and place it on a step. Next, stand with your toes bent back up to you on the towel and your heels hanging off the edge of the stair. Slowly rise, hold, lower your heels back down.
This movement, when completed with good form and good recovery time can not only increase your calf strength, but help with balance and training your plantar fascia too.
You can also increase the capacity of your plantar fascia via shockwave therapy. Extra corporeal shockwave therapy is a treatment option for those with plantar fasciitis that has been present for more than 6 weeks. It helps by reducing chronic dysrepair and triggering healing and new tissue formation.
Let’s put it all together, here’s what effective plantar fasciitis treatment Melbourne looks like.
- Diagnosis comes first so you know what and why you have heel pain
- Load optimisation to reduce the strain on your plantar fascia
- Capacity building to stop it coming back
And with that – it’s over to you. Start your journey back from having heel pain when you’re working on one of our many city sky scraper job sites or standing all day working the late retail shift at Myer.
You can find your great podiatrist ready to help you by booking online at one of our clinics here.
Frequently asked questions about plantar fasciitis treatment Melbourne
We’ve heard them all in our Melbourne CBD podiatry clinics. Here’s the most common questions we get.
What is plantar fasciitis?
Plantar fasciitis is an overload of the plantar fascia.
Your plantar fascia is a strong and stretchy band of tissue on the bottom of your foot that helps you walk and run. It provides support for your foot and arch, assists with balance, basically an all around good dude.
We’ve gone into serious detail about plantar fasciitis and the different types of problems that can lead to plantar fasciitis.
What is the best treatment for Plantar Fasciitis?
The best treatment for plantar fasciitis is personalised to your needs.
You will find similarities as all effective plantar fasciitis treatment plans involve an aspect of load optimisation and capacity building.
What are the symptoms of plantar fasciitis?
The main symptom you’ll feel if you suffer from plantar fasciitis in Melbourne is a sore heel or arch of your foot.
The pain often (but not always) feels sharp when you’re first getting moving on your feet and can sometimes warm up to feel a little better. It’s this warming up that people can mistake for problem getting better, but it’s not usually the case. Next morning, you feel that same sharp pain when you’re getting up again.
Will you be able to walk or run pain free again?
With plantar fasciitis treatment Melbourne podiatrists will work with you to achieve your goals. If that’s pain free running, or pain free walking then you can be confident you’re going to get there.
Flat feet, foot mechanics and poor footwear choices are not always the problem when it comes to walking or running pain free – away from your plantar fasciitis. Your podiatrist will help you with an effective treatment option that works for you.
Is heat or ice best for foot pain and plantar fasciitis relief?
Neither heat or ice can be considered “best” for plantar fasciitis relief. Some people prefer the feeling of heat, others the numbing effects of ice.
While heat and ice won’t actually fix your plantar fasciitis – if you like the feel of one or the other you’re unlikely doing any harm. As long as you are actively treating your plantar fasciitis by addressing the overload and increasing your capacity.
Is a heel spur the same as plantar fasciitis?
Heel spurs and plantar fasciitis are not the same, but the are similar.
Plantar fasciitis is a painful thickening of overworked plantar fascia at the bottom of your foot. Heel spurs are a growth of bone usually into the Achilles tendon or the plantar fascia.
Plantar fasciitis is almost always painful and in need of treatment whereas heel spurs are usually non-painful and are a normal part of the aging process.
Do I need a custom orthotic for my heel pain?
A shoe insert in the form of a custom orthotic can be an effective treatment strategy to aid in tissue repair of the soft tissue that is your plantar fascia.
When used as part of a comprehensive treatment plan custom orthotics can do wonders for your heel pain. But on their own, an arch support orthotic is probably not going to be enough.
The best treatment of plantar fasciitis involves a combination of physical therapy (exercises) and load optimisation (orthoses, footwear, strapping). For a few people body weight might need to be addressed too.
Check out these to help keep your Melbourne feet happy
- Pedicures in Melbourne that won’t give you a fungal infection
- Running tracks around Melbourne our podiatrists enjoy
- Keeping your Melbourne feet warm and comfortable in Winter
About the author
Podiatrist Tim Mulholland has been consulting in Melbourne for over 12 years helping his clients overcome their heel pain from plantar fasciitis.
He still gets a kick out of hearing his clients achieve their goals on a daily basis.
