Shocking results for your plantar fasciitis (heel pain)

Runners have it, and movie stars have it. Lots of people have it in the morning when they get out of bed. We get it after a trip to the mall or the grocery store. What is it? It’s heel pain, medically known as plantar fasciitis, and it’s non-discriminating and can be really annoying.

Just think for a moment about that lonely bone in the bottom of your foot, the heel bone. This bone, the largest in our foot, withstands a great deal of abuse as we cram it into our shoes day after day and subject it to our full weight with every step on hard surfaces. With such abuse, it’s no wonder that plantar fasciitis is problem for so many of us. Podiatrists say that heel pain is the No. 1 complaint of patients.

Common treatments like anti-inflammatory medications, cortisone injections, stretching exercises, and custom orthotics (shoe inserts) can often clear up the problem. In some cases, however, patients continue to have pain after trying these traditional conservative treatments, and so more aggressive treatment may be advised.

Enter Extracorporeal Shock Wave Therapy, or ESWT, which has emerged as an effective treatment option for patients with chronic plantar fasciitis. ESWT delivers focused shock waves to the body designed to treat chronic heel pain. A shock wave is an intense, but very short, energy wave traveling faster than the speed of sound. The word “extra-corporeal” means “outside the body” and refers the fact that the shock waves are generated outside the body.

Shock wave therapy is thought to work by inducing microtrauma to the tissue that is affected by plantar fasciitis. This micro-trauma initiates a healing response by the body. This healing response causes blood vessel formation and increased delivery of nutrients to the affected area. The micro-trauma is thought to stimulate a repair process and relieve the symptoms of plantar fasciitis.

Low-energy shock wave treatments can be given as a series of three or more treatments. The low-energy shock waves are generally not painful, or can be mildly painful. On the other hand, high-energy shock wave treatments are given at one session. High-energy shock wave treatements are quite painful, and some type of anesthesia is needed. Either a regional block or general anesthesia can be administered for the high-energy treatments.

Your podiatrist has extensive training in the diagnosis and treatment of all manner of foot conditions. Take advantage of your doctor’s expertise to alleviate your heel pain. Contact Dr. Sarvepalli Jokhai, DPM at the Foot & Ankle Center of Perry for more information.

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