Do you wake up in the morning hesitant to jump out of bed and hit your feet to the ground for fear that your feet will shoot with pain? Perhaps you have been a long time runner and you are now sidelined because of foot, heel or ankle pain. Maybe you wear high heeled shoes, steel toed boots, climb a lot of stairs or stand in place for extended periods of time. What you recognize as the sudden onset of an intense pain in your heel, doctors refer to as plantar fasciitis. It denotes an inflammation of the plantar tendon, which is a layer of tissue that stretches across the bottom of your foot. The plantar fascia connects the bone in your heel with your toes and presents sharp stabs of pain when inflamed.
If you find yourself suffering from heel or foot pain you have some options. The first step is to remove the interference that may be contributing to or causing your pain.
- Stop wearing footwear that places an awkward and un-natural stress on your foot. Shoes that are too tight or narrow, or shoes that are too loose and have lost their arch support are all culprits to foot pain. Turn to shoes that offer proper arch and foot support. This may mean going to a shoe store that specializes in measuring and evaluating your gait for proper foot dynamics and support.
- Change your high-impact activities. If you are a runner who likes to run hills, you may be better off running on flat surfaces for a while. If you run on treadmills that creates foot pain, switch to elliptical machines or water aerobics for that cardiovascular burn that you are after.
- If standing on your feet for long periods at work or at home, invest in standing mats that cushion your foot and take some of the pressure off of your heel and ankle.
If you have already tried some of these strategies, the other conventional options that are available to you include over-the-counter pain relief medication. The downside to this strategy is the potential for side effects when you take these medications for longer periods. Since plantar fasciitis may last for a while, discuss the use of these medications and their side effects with your doctor before making this decision. Some physicians suggest the use of steroid injections, which do have the potential of greatly reducing the pain. Unfortunately, this treatment can cause more problems than it solves when used repeatedly.
A consultation with your chiropractor or Podiatrist allows these specialists to evaluate your gait and to find the best ways that you can change your gait to undo the inflammation and prevent it from recurring in the future. One of the recommendations that your chiropractor may offer is to fit you for custom made Orthotics (or shoe inserts) to assist with your day-to-day activities such as standing at work or walking long distances.
If all of the above options fail, we at Stanly Wellness Center offer our patients with state-of-the-art low-level laser therapy using the FDA market cleared FX 635. In a clinical study, after administering two 10-minute therapeutic laser treatments per week to the heels of affected patients over the course of three weeks, the majority of patients reported a positive change in pain levels. Whereas over-the-counter medications and steroid injections do bear some risks, the laser method did not lead to the report of any side effects.
Now you can relieve the pain and inflammation of the heel associated with plantar fasciitis. Our new FDA market cleared laser has been proven in clinical tests to effectively treat this painful condition. The healing powers of this low level laser technology can reduce inflammation and eliminate pain in the plantar fascia in only a matter of weeks and return you to an active life once again.
Unlike other lasers on the market, the FX 635 is proven to promote cellular function through painless bio-stimulation. It provides patients experiencing chronic heel pain with a non-invasive, efficacious solution to quickly improve their walking comfort and quality of life without surgery. While other lasers may claim to treat this problem, only the FX 635 has been market cleared by the FDA to treat plantar fasciitis.
At Stanly Wellness Center, we are eager and ready to help you and your families achieve your best health possible. If you are looking for help with your health or you know of someone who is suffering with poor health, call the office of Stanly Wellness Center at 980-355-7600 and schedule a FREE 15-minute consultation with Dr. Patrick Ess to see how he can help. Dr. Ess will not waste your time or money. He will let you know if he can help you, and if he can’t, who in the community can.
Our office specializes in nutrition, detoxification and neurological correction. You can also refer to our website at www.AskDrPatrick.com for more information. We accept most major health insurances including BCBS, Aetna, Humana, UHC, Medicaid and Medicare.
