Plantar Fascitis

[katia n]

Hi. I am a newly graduate of massage school, and while I was in school I was having problems with my Plantar Fascitis. I was getting cortizone shots for it but my massage instructor said she could work on them for me. It hurt like heck but she really made a difference. Are any of you familiar with Plantar Fascitis relief? I have a couple of friends who also have this problem with their feet and I would like to help them with it. Do I need some sort of advance class? My instructor was kinda reluctant to show me her technique.
Thanks in advance! By the way, my name is Kathy and this is my first post here.

 

[Karen C]

Hello Katnip & welcome to MassagePlanetL as well as being a new
graduate!

There are a number of posts on our site regarding this problem & my own daughter started having the problem herself a couple years ago. It can start off for a variety of reasons - sometimes in the case of kids it has to do with their fast growth spurts - as well as having alot of tension
in the gastrocnemius.

Sometimes people with this problem have pronation issues & will have to not only work it with stretching & exercises, but will need to watch their footwear.

(Wearing flip-flops for instance is generally a bad idea with
Plantar Fascitis). The reason for this is because of how much more tension is placed on the foot - as a result of having to grip the toes to keep them on, plus the foot is completely unsupported.

Go into the heading:
Injury - Illness - Pathology -Precedure, look under:
Plantar Fascitis Help Please (Excellant Thread).

We discussed this problem at length here, including info. on stretching, strengthing, massage, etc. Hope this helps & you can get the relief you need.

You may want to check out this article:

http://www.yogajournal.com/health/2292?page=3

 

[chris p]

Any idea why the OP's instructor would be reluctant to share anything on the techniques used?

 

[Steven Miles]

It didn't sound like the OP herself really knew why the instructor wouldn't share her technique.

The only reasonable thing would be if she felt that as a student she might not have been considered to have the assessment skills to determine the cause & the best possible course of treatment. Then again, it might be that the instructor was on the selfish side & didn't want to share, or at the very least was planning to teach that type of treatment as a more advanced protocol class. There's no way to know for sure.

 

[steve J]

I've had some nice success with using NMT (Neuromuscular Therapy) protocols on my clients for their plantarfasciitis. It has taken one, maybe two treatments at the most, and then it goes away for about 1-2 years before starting to come back again. So, I've found NMT to be quite effective. In our school, though, that was taught only in the advanced courses (NMT was not part of our basic certification), but the NMT class was WELL worth the extra money.

Not to derail the original topic, but I have to say this about cortisone shots:

Please please please do NOT get cortisone shots in any joint! Yes, it will relieve the pain and inflammation symptoms for a while (the average I see every day is about four whole months), but it will not address the cause of the pain/inflammation, so the symptoms are guaranteed to return, and when they do, they'll be worse. This is because the condition has had time to further deteriorate and since the pain has been diminished during that time, the patient probably has not sought any legitimate treatment (legit = addressing the cause), and has instead kept using the joint in the same dysfunctional movement patterns that got them to that state in the first place.

The most important aspect of cortisone shots is that any reputable MD will only give someone THREE of them throughout their entire lifetime because of the significant damage each shot does to the joint, and any more than three will basically destroy the joint entirely.

NMT or other similar techniques is BY FAR the best way to go!

Hope that helps! Good luck with the issue, I hope it gets resolved.
Hugs,
~Jyoti

 

[Tajinder W]

Thank for the replys! I thought this was probably something that I needed futher schooling on by the way my instructor kinda brushed it off. It would of been nice if she would of just explained it to me so I had some sort of idea of the treatment she was giving. As soon as I get done taking my state boards, I am going to have to look into NMT. My son has this problem as well, along with a few others I know and I would like to help them with their pain. I know the shots are not something I should be doing, but until my instructor worked on my feet the shots were the only thing I could get for some relief.

 

[Mommy to 2 Nis and Teagan]

Hi again Katnip, I had this info saved from awhile back & may have gotten it from MassagePlanetL in the first place:

Plantar Fasciitis Massage Treatment - Contraindications

”Frictions” are to be avoided if acute inflammation is present, if client is taking anti-inflammatories, or has taken repeated corticosteroid injections to the plantar fascia.


Acute

Start Client Prone, then repeat all the same steps when Client is Supine.

1. Place cool ice packs on foot & gastrocnemius/soleus (back of calf muscle).

2. Lymphatic drainage to affected lower leg starting with sacral pumping and stopping just before the edema starts.

3. Massage muscles in the low back, gluteals, lateral rotators and upper leg using effleurage and petrissage.

4. Use muscle stripping and gentle compressions to treat trigger points in the upper and lower leg.

5. Stroking and gentle muscle squeezing are used on the foot.

Chronic

Prone 1st

1. Deep moist heat on foot and calf muscles.

2. Stretch foot (dorsiflexion, plantar flexion, inversion, eversion) holding stretch for 2 seconds and then releasing. Repeat 10 times.

3. Massage low back, gluteals, and thighs with effleurage and petrissage.

4. Skin rolling, crossed-hands & fingertip spreading, connective tissue cutting and longitudinal fingertip spreading on gastrocnemius/soleus.

5. Wringing, and fingertip & palmar kneading on gastrocnemius, soleus and flexor digitorum longus.

6. Trigger points and taut bands in gastrocnemius, soleus, and flexor digitorum longus are treated with muscle stripping.

7. PIR or passive stretching on gastrocnemius/soleus. See pes planus for details.

8. Joint play for the subtalar joint and navicular bone.

9. Thumb kneading on intrinsic muscles of the foot.

10. Use muscle stripping and compressions to treat trigger points in the upper and lower leg within clients pain tolerance.

11. Repetitive effleurage is used on the posterior leg and foot muscles to increase circulation and remove metabolites.

Then Supine 2nd

1. Massage thigh and leg.

2. Flex knee and pull leg up towards torso to do further work on gastrocnemius.

3. Joint play techniques are used on superior tibio-fibular join and ankle but not the medial arch.

4. Stretch gastrocnemius/soleus by dorsi & plantar flexing foot. Hold stretch 2 seconds and then release. Repeat 10 times.

5. Treatment is finished with effleurage to entire limb.

6. Cross-fiber friction on adhesions on foot, particularly near the heel.

7. Cross-fiber friction on Achilles tendon.

8. Finish with contrast cool packs on foot & calf muscles and stretch again as at first.

Also, if you have time check out youtube as I seem to recall that they had some videos on working on Plantar problems on there - probably under the Expert Village videos, if I am remembering correctly.

 

[Prav]

Here's the self help info I wanted to pass along:

An exercise routine for strengthening the muscles that support the ankle joint
Here is a basic ankle injury rehab program for strengthening.

It should not replace an evaluation by your physician.

This routine generally takes 20 minutes and should be done three times per week until full recovery.

Do not attempt this program if you experience pain. A proper, safe stretch should not be painful. To perform the following stretches properly move slowly, don’t bounce and hold for 15 seconds then switch sides and repeat 2- 4 times.

1) Calf (gastrocnemius) Stretch - One

Place you hands on a wall with right foot behind you. Keep right knee straight and heel touching the ground. Lean forward until you feel a stretch along your calf. (You may have to move the foot closer to the wall or further back in order to feel the stretch)

2) Calf (soleus) Stretch - Two

Place you hands on a wall with your right foot behind you. Bend your right knee, and keep the heel in contact with the ground. Lean forward until you feel a stretch along your calf.

3) Range of Motion -

Sit with one leg crossed over the other. With the toes of the free foot ‘draw’ small circles in the air, clockwise then counterclockwise, for 10-15 seconds in each direction.

For more advanced exercises ‘spell’ out the letters of the alphabet. Repeat with the other foot.

4) Towel Scrunches - Sit in a chair and stretch a towel on the floor in front of you. Begin with right foot and keep heel on the ground. Use your toes to ‘scrunch’ the towel towards you. Repeat 3 times. Switch Feet. (if too easy, place a book on the floor and then scrunch).

5) Leg Swing on One Leg - While balancing on one leg slowly swing the other leg forward then back through a full range of motions. Keep the knee straight and move from the hip. You can also swing the leg to the side. Do this for 10 seconds, rest and repeat several times.

6) Toe Raises - While standing with one hand on the back of a chair for support, raise up on your toes and hold for 2 seconds and lower. Don’t bounce. Do 2 sets of 10 repetitions. When exercise becomes easy perform with one foot at a time.

7) Toe Taps - Sit in chair. Begin with right foot. Keep heel on the ground. Raise toes up toward body, then lower so toes touch ground. Perform 2 sets of 10 repetitions. Repeat toe taps for left foot.

Jumps -

Make a cross on the ground using two strips of tape and mark each box from 1-4.

Place both feet in 1 and jump into 2.

Then go from 2 to 3, then 3 to 4 and finally 4 back to 1

Stay facing forward the entire time. Ensure you leave off the balls of the feet and land on the balls of the feet

Repeat exercise but jump from 1 to 4, 4 to 3, 3 to 2,
2 to 1.

Do 10 jumps total, 5 in each direction.

Begin slowly, then gradually increase speed.

When exercise becomes easy, perform jumps with one foot at a time.

This program can help strength the muscles that support the ankle joint. Be careful and do not perform exercises that cause pain.

*Consult your physician before beginning any exercise program

 

[Ufo]

if you want to make the problem go away for good, you need to address pelvic position. inflammation like that is not an isolated event.

patrick