Featured Focus: Plantar Fasciitis and Spinal health

Are you a runner with sharp pains in the bottom of your foot after doing hill training? Are you trying to get through a group exercise class without irritating your feet with jumping or bouncing around? Does the bottom of your feet hurt when you walk around the house without shoes on? This article may be for you.

Plantar fasciitis is an inflammatory condition of the bottom muscular and connective tissues of your feet. Pain and discomfort can come on gradually or abruptly, and can manifest itself as pain in the middle of your arches, or most commonly, near the heal attachment of the fascia. It is important to remember that not all foot pain is the same, and that a proper diagnosis by a licensed chiropractor is necessary to manage your symptoms appropriately and effectively.

Plantar Fasciitis can flare up for a number of reasons. For the purposes of this article, we with be addressing the common problem of functional body imbalances as the culprit. Doctors of Chiropractic are trained to view and treat the body as a system, where the focus is on relief of symptoms through identifying the problem, not masking the pain.

The plantar fascia is a member of what has been identified as the “posterior chain” in the body. Thomas M. Meyers, in his 2009 book entitled “Anatomy Trains”, took to the human body through cadaver dissection and identified the body “chains” as a series of muscles, ligaments, tendons, and other connective tissue. The posterior chain, as shown below, shows a connection from head to toe, from the frontal is muscle in the forehead, to the bottom of the feet, or the plantar fascia.

Another way to think if this “chain” is to imagine these muscle groups (Frontalis, Suboccipitals, neck/back paraspinal muscles, hamstrings, gastrosoleus and plantar fascia) as a team that works together to produce common movements. Now imagine teams that you’ve been a part of of the past. This can be a work, school, or an athletic team… Was there ever a member of that group that didn’t pull their weight? What happened to the other members of the group? Chances are there was increased stressed placed on the members who where trying hard to be efficient and get the job done. Thats exactly the philosophy at work in this case of plantar fasciitis. If other muscles up the chain are tight, weak and/or not efficient, increased mechanical (physical) stress is placed on the plantar fascia and that area responds negatively by becoming inflamed.

If you’ve experienced plantar fascia pain in the past, have you noticed how tight your calf muscles feel? How about the flexibility in your hamstrings? Have you noticed decreased core strength along side of symptoms in your feet? While every cause and culprit is different, it is important to not only address the pain location but to also address related anatomic structures to get to the bottom of the cause of the symptoms and prevent future fare-ups.

Your Pasadena Chiropractors at Braun Chiropractic are trained using the latest evidence-based techniques for spinal adjustment to improve and maintain core strength. This treatment is backed up by their implementation of Active Release Technique Therapy which has become the gold standard in management of soft tissue injuries including strains, tightness, adhesions and injury healing in the spine, neck, arms, and legs. For all your active needs, consider Braun Chiropractic Pasadena as your health care specialist that addresses the wellness of your nervous system. Adjustments to your nervous system improves your ability to express your innate drive to heal and maintain overall health.

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