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What Is Plantar Fasciitis?
Often characterized by intense, stabbing pain in your heel, plantar fasciitis is an inflammation of the tough, fibrous band of tissue that connects your heel bone to your toes. The pain is generally worse first thing in the morning or if you’ve been off your feet for a while.
You’re more likely to develop heel pain if you have a job requiring you to walk or stand on hard surfaces, or if you are overweight. You may also be at higher risk if you walk or run for exercise, especially if you have tight calf muscles that limit how far you can flex your ankles. People with very flat feet or very high arches are also more likely to suffer from plantar fasciitis.
When You Should See a Specialist
Without treatment, plantar fasciitis can become a chronic condition, inhibiting your ability to maintain a normal level of activity. In addition, heel pain can cause you to develop foot, knee, hip or back problems because the pain may cause you to change the way you walk.
If you have had unresolved heel pain for 3-4 weeks, contact us to make an appointment for an examination by our board-certified team of podiatrists. Together, we’ll develop a treatment plan to alleviate your heel pain and underlying inflammation.
Treatment for Plantar Fasciitis
It can take anywhere from a few months to a few years to resolve an inflammation of the fascia. Your podiatrist may recommend treatments such as icing, physical therapy, orthotics or night splints, which are worn to stretch your foot and calf while you sleep. If improvement isn’t seen in a few months, the doctor may recommend corticosteroid injections or other therapies. Surgery is rarely necessary and generally only recommended when more conventional treatments have not been effective.
AmnioFix® Injection Treatment for Plantar Fasciitis
A new treatment for plantar fasciitis, AmnioFix® injections encourage your cells to regenerate damaged tissue while inhibiting scar tissue formation and controlling inflammation.
AmnioFix® is derived from human amniotic tissue, donated by healthy, consenting mothers undergoing scheduled Caesarean sections. The donated tissue is cleaned, dehydrated and sterilized, and then blended with sterile saline to create the injectable solution. Over 100,000 patients nationwide have been treated with AmnioFix®, with no reports of complications or serious side effects.
Want to learn more? Ask Drs. Grundy or Meyer if AmnioFix® may be a solution for you.