Are You Suffering from Plantar Fasciitis?

Visits usually start with “Doc, I woke up this morning, got out of bed and had awful heel pain! What’s wrong?”

To clarify, this is a common complaint at many Podiatric Surgeons’ offices. Many times after a thorough physical exam and diagnostic studies, the answer is, plantar fasciitis.

Plantar fasciitis is described as pain in the heel region. Furthermore, there are approximately one million doctor visits per year in the United States for this condition! (1). However, there are various conservative and surgical treatment options for plantar fasciitis. However, some patients can have resistant plantar fasciitis that doesn’t respond to the common types of conservative therapy. Also, for patients who want to possibly avoid surgical intervention, Extracorporeal Shock Wave Therapy (ESWT) is an excellent option.

suffering from plantar fasciitis

Meanwhile, the Research Says…

Multiple articles have reviewed ESWT. However, I will only mention a few of them in this blog. First, in an article highlighted by The American College of Foot and Ankle Surgeons website entitled, “Meta-analysis of high-energy extracorporeal shock wave therapy (HESWT) in recalcitrant plantar fasciitis,” it was stated that HESWT is effective in the treatment of ­recalcitrant plantar fasciitis compared to placebo (2). To sum up, they looked at persons who were over 18 years old with plantar ­fasciitis lasting over 6 months and unsuccessful conservative treatment including at least one pharmacological therapy and two non-pharmacological therapies and baseline pain score ≥5 cm on a 10-cm visual analog scale.

Further, another article compared ESWT versus placebo.  In short, The Journal of Foot and Ankle Surgery noted that ESWT was both efficacious and safe for participants with chronic proximal plantar fasciitis that had been unresponsive to exhaustive conservative treatment (3).

Have Questions?

In conclusion, our clinic is one of the few in Detroit that offers extracorporeal shock wave therapy for patients suffering from plantar fasciitis. It has is proven to be most effective. Finally, if you have questions about shockwave please feel free to email me directly or set up an explorative consultation at Foot Healthcare Associates by calling 248-258-0001.

Have a Footastic Day!

References:

  1. Buchbinder R. Plantar fasciitis. N Engl J Med 2004; 350:2159–66.
  2. Zhiyun, L.; Tao, J. ; Zengwu, S. Meta-Analysis of High-Energy Extracorporeal Shock Wave Therapy in Recalcitrant Plantar Fasciitis. Swiss Medical Weekly, July 2013.
  3. Finally, Extracorporeal Shockwave Therapy Versus Placebo for the Treatment of Chronic Proximal Plantar Fasciitis: Results of a Randomized, Placebo-Controlled, Double-Blinded, Multicenter Intervention Trial. Journal of Foot and Ankle Surgery.  2006; 45(4) 196-210.

Dr. Sophia Barnett, DPM
Foot Healthcare Associates
Offices in Livonia, Novi, & Southfield
(248-) 258-0001