Plantar fasciitis is a common condition that occurs when the plantar fascia, a long band of tissue in your foot, becomes overstretched or stressed due to overuse or injury. This can result in swelling and minor pain on the bottom of your feet, particularly in the mornings or after long periods of walking.
While it may not require medical intervention, there are several home remedies that you can use to alleviate the symptoms. One such method is to apply a cool, wet cloth on the affected area, which can have a soothing effect just like it does for a sprained ankle.
What are the signs of Plantar Fasciitis?
The most common symptom of Plantar Fasciitis is a pain in the heel or arch of the foot. The pain is usually sharp and intense and is often worst in the morning or after periods of rest. It may also be aggravated by prolonged standing, walking, or running.
Another sign of Plantar Fasciitis is tenderness and swelling in the affected area. The heel may be tender to the touch, and there may be swelling around the heel and arch of the foot.
In some cases, Plantar Fasciitis can cause aching or burning sensations in the foot. This is often associated with prolonged standing or walking and can be a sign of more severe cases of the condition.
People with Plantar Fasciitis may also experience stiffness in the foot and difficulty moving the foot or ankle. This can make it difficult to walk or run and may also cause pain.
What are the causes of Plantar Fasciitis?
Plantar Fasciitis is a painful condition that affects the feet and is caused by the inflammation of the plantar fascia, a thick band of tissue connecting the heel bone to the toes. Several factors can contribute to the development of Plantar Fasciitis, including the following:
- Overuse: One of the most common causes of Plantar Fasciitis is overuse, particularly in athletes and individuals who engage in activities that stress the feet, such as running or jumping. Repetitive strain on the plantar fascia can cause small tears in the tissue, leading to inflammation and pain.
- Improper Footwear: Wearing shoes that provide inadequate support or don't fit properly can also contribute to the development of Plantar Fasciitis. Shoes that are too tight or too loose can cause the foot to move around excessively, which can strain the plantar fascia.
- Obesity: Being overweight or obese puts extra stress on the feet, which can lead to the development of Plantar Fasciitis. Excess weight can also cause changes in the way the foot hits the ground, which can affect the alignment of the plantar fascia.
Plantar fasciitis is a common condition affecting the heel due to constant strain. Symptoms include heel pain, stiffness, and an inability to move properly. Common treatments for plantar fasciitis are as simple as using ice or heat pads and other self-care practices.
Cold Therapy for Plantar Fasciitis
When it comes to treating Plantar Fasciitis, Cold therapy is extremely effective. When applied to the area properly, it constricts blood vessels beneath the skin and reduces inflammation in all body parts. If you feel your plantar fascia pain returning or an attack already may be on the horizon, try wrapping cold packs around your feet before bed or kick back with a cool pack of frozen vegetables!
SACKSY THYME Cold Therapy pack for Plantar Fasciitis:
Standard Technique for Using Cold Therapy
Getting rid of your heel pain may seem like a tall order, but there are easy ways to do it. In the first place, it's important to remember that rest is key when dealing with such pain.
To help you relax and reduce heel pain, we recommend alternating between ice packs and RICE therapy - for resting, icing, and compression. It will help you relieve the initial swelling in your ankle and heel, which causes more pain than anything else. Be sure to follow our tips so you can have better results:
- Cold therapy sack on and off for 15 to 20-minute sessions.
- Avoid direct ice-to-skin contact; use a towel or cloth barrier to protect your skin.
- To promote healing when someone has a minor injury, like a foot sprain, you can help minimize swelling by elevating their foot just above or as close to the heart level as possible. You can prop up the injured foot with some pillows or use a leg rest pillow for convenience.
- Apply a cold wrap or cold sack. A cold wrap typically comes in an ace bandage that can be wrapped around an injury to apply compression. Compression helps reduce swelling but can significantly reduce damage when combined with ice therapy. Wrap the ice pack in plastic if you cannot contact your skin directly because of allergies, such as neoprene, often found in ankle support knee braces. Alternatively, opt for an ankle wrap that covers most areas surrounding your ankles and attaches via Velcro straps. These cold wraps are helpful for injuries across the top of your foot, including toes and instep areas.
Using Cold Therapy + Massage
Cold therapy can relieve chronic pain and stiffness in the plantar fascia, which happens when the ligaments of this connective tissue at the bottom of your foot become strained or inflamed.
It helps to stretch out this tissue to reduce tension by putting an ice pack on your foot and icing it down before stretching. This way, you get both cold therapy and Massage, which will help free up a lot of buildup in your tendons and keep you limber!
- To achieve optimal results, we recommend filling a disposable 12 or 20-ounce water bottle with cold water until it is ¾ full. Alternatively, you may utilize a cold massage ball or roller to achieve comparable effects.
- To ensure even freezing, placing the water bottle in the freezer without the cap on is recommended.
- After the freezing process is complete, carefully remove the bottle from the freezer and ensure that the cap is securely replaced.
- Place the frozen bottle on its side onto the ground.
- To alleviate plantar fasciitis discomfort, it is recommended to sit in a chair and gently apply pressure to the affected area by rolling a frozen bottle under your foot. Ensure that you
maintain contact with a hard surface throughout the process.
- It is recommended to perform this activity for 10 to 15 minutes twice a day while ensuring not to exceed a maximum of 20 minutes.
Heat for Plantar Fasciitis
A handy technique for treating plantar fasciitis is to use heat therapy which can be done with hot water bottles or herbal heating pads. Heat therapy increases blood flow and brings more blood to the affected area. It should help reduce swelling without adding additional fluid buildup but don't overdo it.
Our advice is to take it easy, and when choosing a method of heat application, make sure you choose something gentle like warmed compresses or that oh-so-soothing heated water bottle!
SACKSY THYME Microwavable Heating pad for Plantar Fasciitis
Standard Techniques for Using Heat
- The amount of time you should use a heating pad at any time depends on how your body reacts to the heat. Generally, the larger the area, the longer it may take for your body to warm up. But 20 minutes can also be too much, depending on how big the area in question is and if you're experiencing any form of discomfort or not. It's recommended that 2 hours be used as a reference point when determining whether your body's reaction will reward you with positive results.
- Wrap your foot with a heating pad or submerge it in a warm bath, covering the heel and arch.
- Adding heat to the painful areas can relax the ligaments and muscles, preventing plantar fasciitis from worsening.
- To prevent skin burns, never use heat therapy while sleeping.
Ways to Get Relief from Heat
Heating pads
Herbal heating pads help with sore muscles and swelling. Heating pads provide relief by supplying moist warm heat to the affected parts of your body. Start by wrapping your foot with a Herbal heating pad, ensuring it covers all the trouble spots. Be sure not to cover the site with clothing, as this could make the pad burn hotter than needed. When the right temperature is reached, increase your sleeping time accordingly!
Hot baths/foot soaks
Use a foot bath - It's a great way to relax and give your feet the attention they deserve! Fill a small bucket or bin that is easy to carry around with lukewarm water. If you feel it's getting too hot, add some cold water. Immerse your feet in warm water until it reaches the ideal temperature that can deeply penetrate your tissues without causing any harm to your skin. Allow the water to cool down gradually to maximize your feet' benefits.
Massage
Getting yourself a foot massage from someone trained can bring refreshing, relaxing, and often fruitful results. Foot massage can also relax the sole of your feet and all the muscles in your body. It means you'll feel much more relaxed and comfortable, ultimately reducing the likelihood of any muscle aches or pains you'd usually feel when getting out of bed after a long day's work.
Regular massages will help keep those morning pains at bay because they effectively stretch all your muscles when flaccid. And if you want to get rid of pain in the arches or plantar fasciitis specifically, giving yourself a foot massage with your hands once every two weeks should do the trick!
Heated Massage
Heated massages combined with foot rubs focusing on the bottom of your feet are two tried-and-true methods of alleviating pain caused by plantar fasciitis. To get the entire treatment, use heat rubs or a massage ball that has been warmed in a microwave before gently applying pressure along your sole, starting at your toes and rolling back and forth down to your heel.
This exercise, also known as trigger point therapy, will help free up blocked energy pathways and increase blood flow to improve general health and alleviate the pain! Over time you should find that you'll experience less nagging foot pain.
When to Only Use Heat
The key to using heat alone is knowing when not to use it. Heat can be used periodically in conjunction with ice to warm tissues, increase blood flow, and diminish swelling. However, if one applies heat for too long or uses it with ice infrequently, tenderness and pain will ensue.
Alternating Cold & Hot for Plantar Fasciitis
If you have plantar fasciitis and prefer natural remedies rather than drugs, there are benefits to applying heat and cold to the affected area. The practice of alternating between different temperatures is called contrast treatment and can be an effective, at-home way to treat your symptoms.
To initiate contrast therapy on your feet, it is recommended that you consider your options for the treatment. You may use a combination of cold packs and a heating pad or immerse your feet in cold and hot water. Once you've decided which method best suits you, contrast therapy can begin! Following these standard procedures:
- Start with cold therapy and end with cold therapy. It will further reduce overall inflammation and pain.
- Alternate back and forth, ensuring your heel and arch are well covered.
- The cold therapy of icing should be performed for one minute, and then the heat treatment of heating pads or hot packs should be done for three minutes.
The next time you notice your pain moving up your Achilles tendon, your calf muscle getting stiffer, or the condition worsening, the best thing to do is see a doctor. If you want to avoid making appointments frequently, call in advance and ask for an appointment. After an initial consultation with a physician, you will work closely with the doctor and their co-workers, like physical therapists and podiatrists, to help you combat structural defects.
Sacksy Thyme Hot & Cold Therapy Pack for Plantar Fasciitis Pain:
Managing Plantar Fasciitis Pain with Ice and Heat
Cold and heat therapy can be part of a treatment program to help relieve plantar fasciitis pain in your foot. Sometimes it's tough to decide which type of therapy to try, and there isn't one clear answer, but most people will tell you that they first use cold therapy before switching to treatments based on heat. It's a great idea to consult with your doctor on what kind of plantar fasciitis relief you should expect from each at their respective price points!