{"id":6284,"date":"2019-05-09T02:35:21","date_gmt":"2019-05-09T02:35:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/simplyhealth.io\/?p=6284"},"modified":"2021-06-09T12:28:11","modified_gmt":"2021-06-09T12:28:11","slug":"14-common-symptoms-of-plantar-fasciitis","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/simplyhealth.io\/14-common-symptoms-of-plantar-fasciitis\/","title":{"rendered":"14 Common Symptoms of Plantar Fasciitis"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Plantar fasciitis is a common health condition affecting the foot and one of the most common causes out there for experiencing heel pain for the general population. Statistics say that as much as 7% of the general population might develop heel pain due to plantar fasciitis during their lifetime, and it\u2019s estimated that the condition is far more likely to occur in people who spend a lot of time putting added strain on their feet and heel \u2013 this is why the condition is sometimes also known as runner\u2019s or jogger\u2019s heel, and frequently affects especially people working in the service industry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you have plantar fasciitis, the condition is generally easy to treat with a few lifestyle adjustments, the use of over the counter painkillers and the use of heel inserts to reduce the pressure on the feet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here are 8 common symptoms of plantar fasciitis that you should be looking out for.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

1. Pain During Pressure<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Pain experienced when there\u2019s any pressure placed on the foot, heel or ankle is usually one of the most common and first symptoms people with plantar fasciitis<\/a> will experience. This symptom normally happens for the first few steps after waking up in the morning or after a nap, and it can get progressively worse throughout the day as more pressure is placed on the foot \u2013 especially during standing or walking.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you experience pain while putting any pressure on your foot, the first thing you should do is try to reduce pressure. Sit down and rest while raising the foot \u2013 as little as 10 minutes of rest can make a massive difference to the amount of pain experienced upon standing again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Runners and athletes should take special care to stop exercising the moment they experience pain in their ankles; continuing exercise can only lead to an increased risk of further injury.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

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2. Pain Bending the Foot<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Pain <\/a>experienced while placing pressure on the heel or the ankle isn\u2019t the only type of pain that you\u2019ll start to experience if you have plantar fasciitis; it\u2019s likely that you\u2019ll also experience pain while you bend the foot, usually upwards, though occasionally downwards too. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you have pain while bending your ankle or moving your foot, then be sure this isn\u2019t because of a sprain \u2013 you\u2019ll likely see redness and swelling around the ankle if this is the case. If it\u2019s a sprain, the best thing you can do is apply heat and pressure to the affected area until the swelling goes down \u2013 although if it doesn\u2019t, then you should look to see the potential cause of it can still be plantar fasciitis. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

With plantar fasciitis, the key is to keep any kind of pressure off the foot. Rest for six to eight weeks remains the best recommendation possible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

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3. Pain Directly in the Heel<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Plantar fasciitis affects the Achilles tendon<\/a>, the ankle and the rest of the muscles in the foot just as much as it affects the heel, and people who have been diagnosed with plantar fasciitis are known for very often experiencing pain through the entire area \u2013 and sometimes with the condition left untreated, this pain can also spread to many other areas of the body related to the way you walk, such as the hips and the neck.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pain directly in the heel is one of the most common symptoms of plantar fasciitis, and most people with the condition will experience this symptom in varying degrees of severity. If you experience heel pain for several hours or days at a time \u2013 especially if it happens frequently.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Make a doctor\u2019s appointment and reduce pressure in the foot if you experience this symptom; further pressure on the foot can only risk increased damage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

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4. Decreased Movement in Foot<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Plantar fasciitis is a condition that might start out small at first, but the longer the condition is left untreated for, the higher the risk of incurring further (and possibly permanent) damage to the foot and the muscles <\/a>in it becomes. If you experience any kind of pain in your foot or heel, you should make an appointment with your doctor immediately and make the necessary lifestyle adjustments in order to reduce pressure on the feet \u2013 if you have no choice but to stand, heel inserts can be a huge help, especially for making the condition easier to live with.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Decreased movement in the foot can occur as one of the early symptoms of plantar fasciitis, but it can also occur as one of the later symptoms of the condition if it\u2019s left untreated for too long.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you happen to notice any kind of decreased movement, see your doctor sooner rather than later.
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5. Heel Spur<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Plantar fasciitis can have several long-term consequences for the body if it\u2019s left untreated for too long or subjected to too much strain. Some people might live with the condition for years before they decide to go to a doctor and have it checked out, and by that point, they might have done almost permanent damage to the muscles \u2013 and in many cases, plantar fasciitis can also be the cause of developing a heel spur<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Heel spurs are growths on the bone of the heel: If you look at a diagram of the foot, it\u2019s pretty easy to see what this means \u2013 and exactly why it feels like there\u2019s a spike traveling through from your foot to your heel. This can be extremely painful, and it can require surgery to fix once a heel spur has developed. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

If left untreated, other health conditions can arise from this as a result \u2013 such as chronic pain in the hips.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

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6. Lower Back Pain<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

If you have been experiencing lower back pain, you should know that there are many different things that can be the cause \u2013 and many of the potential causes of back pain aren\u2019t in your back at all, but can be traced down to something else in the body like the neck, knees or ankles. If you have lower back pain<\/a> together with some of the other symptoms that have been mentioned on this list (in particular, pain in the heels and limited movement in the foot), then it\u2019s likely that the cause might be plantar fasciitis.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lower back pain can be treated symptomatically with the application of heat and abdominal braces for more extreme cases, but if plantar fasciitis is the cause then the original condition will have to be treated first or the hip pain will simply occur again in time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

See a doctor with any kind of recurring pain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

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7. Heel Swelling<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Swelling <\/a>is usually one of the first symptoms that can help to tell your body \u2013 and your doctor \u2013 that there\u2019s something wrong with your health. It\u2019s generally the body\u2019s way of protecting whatever is under the swelling from any further damage, but swelling can also occur due to a variety of different reasons (including arthritis, bleeding disorders, and added strain). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you experience swelling in your heel that goes together with some of the other symptoms that have been mentioned on this list, then it\u2019s likely that plantar fasciitis is the cause \u2013 and you should report all of the symptoms that you have been experiencing to your doctor as soon as possible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There are times where the cause might be a simple sprain, but together with recurring heel pain, plantar fasciitis is one of the more likely options that you should be checking out. Simple tests and x-rays can help to diagnose the problem.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

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8. Arthritis<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Plantar fasciitis leads to a range of different symptoms, and you should see your doctor if you experience one or any of these symptoms in combination with one another. It\u2019s a condition that\u2019s best treated soon, and suffering from the condition for an extended period of time can potentially put you at risk of developing a range of different health conditions related to your bone and muscle health.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Arthritis <\/a>is one of the health conditions known for going along with plantar fasciitis. While the one might not directly lead to the other, you are at an automatically higher risk for plantar fasciitis if you have ever been diagnosed with arthritis in your lifetime (and the reverse is true, too). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Make an appointment with your doctor if you experience limited movement or pain in any of your joints, and remember to give your doctor a thorough list of your symptoms during your appointment.<\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

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9. The Body\u2019s Natural Immunity Responses<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

When the body gets injured (or when it thinks that it does), it responds by activating several different protective mechanisms in the body. Not all of these feel useful to us when they happen, but all of them are essential to the brain processing that an injury <\/a>has taken place.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With injuries like plantar fasciitis, the body is likely to respond with swelling and pain first. This has a point: It stops the body from being able to move the injury more than its current capacity, and the pain tells us to stop whatever we\u2019re doing, usually, the activity that triggered the injury in the first place. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The body\u2019s other common natural immunity response is a fever. It attempts to make the body a too-warm habitat for germs and bacteria, but it can also push the body (and the heart) over the edge. Fevers can be present where muscles and tendons have been hurt and should be treated as their own symptoms. <\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

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10. Grinding or Pain While Moving<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Plantar fasciitis is a serious injury that might affect the surrounding bone <\/a>and joints. You\u2019ll know that it has if you experience any further pain while trying to move the ankle or foot. In more severe cases, you might also experience a further stabbing pain or pressure and a grinding feeling (or sound) when trying to move the foot.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sometimes an injury isn\u2019t a singular problem but might happen together with several injuries at the same time. If you think that you might also have broken anything else during the same injury, look for any further signs of bruising, obvious pain or swelling anywhere else. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Immediately after accidents, the shock has a way of hiding these injuries until a few minutes or hours later. Monitor your condition regularly if you aren\u2019t sure whether you have been injured and never assume that someone at an accident scene isn\u2019t injured just because they don\u2019t feel it at the time. <\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

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11. A Slowed Down Routine<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

There are a few rare cases where people have walked around with conditions like plantar fasciitis or bone fractures <\/a>and breaks without realizing it for several weeks or years after the injuries happened.\u00a0 Other cases also exist where people might feel pain from an old or recovering injury in a different way to everyone else, putting far more strain than is healthy on the affected area (but still unable to feel the damage that\u2019s being done in the process).\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If this describes anything you have ever done when it comes to a previous injury you\u2019ve had, make sure that you don\u2019t do the same thing again. Even where feeling is absent or hard to identify, you\u2019ll notice injuries by how things that usually took ten minutes now take twice as long. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you\u2019re walking or moving slower than usual, there should be some medical cause for it even if you can\u2019t feel it in the same way as everyone else might. <\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

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12. Repetitive Numbness<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Pain isn\u2019t the only way plantar fasciitis can manifest. Also pay attention to any loss of feeling, numbness <\/a>or pins and needles that you might experience in your legs, ankles or feet. When it\u2019s part of a recent or recovering injury, you can almost be sure that there\u2019s a trapped nerve causing the feeling. In extreme cases, it\u2019s a side-effect of the swelling, and in more extreme injuries it can be a warning sign for a blood clot.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Should you experience any numbness after a recent suspected plantar fasciitis or official diagnosis of the condition, you should see your doctor or visit the emergency room. Periods of inactivity common during healing can trigger blood clots, particularly where combined with medications or conditions that increase the risk of clotting further. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Remember to note any other potential symptoms that you experience up until your visit. These can help doctors to identify the right cause for your symptoms much faster and it often saves a lot of time (and money)<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

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13. The Risk of Further Injury<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Even though the human body has an incredible capability to heal from almost any injury under the right circumstances, very serious injuries like fractures and plantar fasciitis will leave some or other trace behind after it has healed. This healing point, also commonly seen in breaks and fractures, will commonly \u201cflare-up\u201d on days where it\u2019s subjected to any kind of stress<\/a>, whether obvious like exercise or environmental ones like temperature changes to the lower ends of the thermometer.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

These \u201cflare-ups\u201d can sometimes happen years or decades after an original injury: It\u2019s usually the kind of thing that people are talking about when they mention that old sports injury. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sensitive parts of the body that have healed over before will always remain a little more sensitive to any stress. If you have already had plantar fasciitis, then there\u2019s an automatically increased risk (usually even years later) that you might repeat the same injury.
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14. Dislocation of Bones or the Ankles<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

In some cases, the swelling associated with plantar fasciitis or a sprain <\/a>can be bad enough to cause joints to swell enough to pop out of place (or dislocate). Where plantar fasciitis is involved, dislocation of the bones in the feet or the ankle joints are the areas that will be most commonly affected and it\u2019s likely to be associated with a considerable decline in movement range or a lot of pain and discomfort when trying to move it.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If dislocation happens by itself or if there\u2019s any change in the bone structure itself, consider the possibility that there might be another health condition affecting the body\u2019s connective tissue or bone. Arthritis is a condition that can often be related to plantar fasciitis, although has its own list of different symptoms and warning signs. Various connective tissue disorders can and might cause spontaneous dislocation and can increase the general likelihood of some types of injuries taking place. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you suspect that you might have any kind of underlying connective tissue disorder or other bone-related health condition, connect with an online support group and speak to your doctor. <\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

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