Toronto-Centre Naturopathic Medicine is a Toronto naturopathic clinic dedicated to providing safe and effective treatment of a wide variety of health conditions using natural therapies and the principles of naturopathic medicine.
Plantar fasciitis is a well treated using naturopathic medicine. It is one of the most common causes of heel pain. Plantar fasciitis is an inflammatory condition of the plantar fascia, the thick band of tissue that runs across the bottom of your foot and connecting your heel bone to your toes, and acts as a shock absorber.
The pain of plantar fasciitis results when excessive tension (e.g., from poorly fitting footwear) results in tearing, and consequently in irritation and inflammation of the plantar fascia. Plantar fasciitis is painful, can affect your quality of life, and in time lead to foot, knee, hip, or back problems that develop from changes your walking motion.
Symptoms of plantar fasciitis
Possible symptoms of plantar fasciitis include pain that:
• Develops gradually
• Usually affects only one foot
• Is sharp and felt at the heel your foot
• Is most intense with the first few steps after waking or prolonged sitting, or after periods of prolonged standing
Treatment of plantar fasciitis at Toronto-Centre Naturopathic Medicine
At Toronto-Centre Naturopathic Medicine, the goals of plantar fasciitis treatment are to reduce pain intensity and identify and address triggers of plantar fasciitis to prevent recurrence.
Conventional treatment for plantar fasciitis may include a physical therapy, night splint use, surgery and variety of medications, including nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) and corticosteroids. These treatments may have short- or long-term side effects. For this reason, you may choose to try natural treatment to possibly avoid use of conventional medications, or together with conventional medications in order to decrease dosages of conventional medications required to manage your plantar fasciitis symptoms.
Naturopathic treatment of any chronic health concern must be recognized as a process that involves identifying specific treatment goals, a thorough understanding by your naturopathic doctor of all factors affecting your health, including physical, psychological, emotional and lifestyle factors, development of a comprehensive treatment plan and execution of that plan through periodic monitoring and adjustment.
At Toronto-Centre Naturopathic Medicine a typical approach to treating plantar fasciitis may be to identify and address underlying factors in your lifestyle (e.g., exercise patterns, occupational requirements and other activities that stress the plantar fascia, poorly fitted footwear) or general health (e.g., being flat-footed or having a high arch, having an abnormal walking motion, obesity), use of acupuncture, Bowen therapy or Suikodo™ to decrease inflammation and use of diet therapy and nutritional supplements to support healing of irritated tissues.
Where appropriate, a number of therapeutic options are available, to be used alone, or more often in a complementary fashion, including:
• Acupuncture
• Bowen therapy
• Suikodo™
• Nutritional supplements
• Botanical (herbal) medicines
• Diet therapy
• Hydrotherapy
• Lifestyle counseling
• Exercise prescription
• Homeopathic medicines
References
Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research. Plantar Fasciitis [Online]. [cited 2010 Jan 28]; Available from: http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/plantar-fasciitis/DS00508.