Plantar fasciitis? Don’t just look at your feet

If you have plantar fasciitis, most of the advice tends to focus on one place.

Your foot.

Change your shoes. Support your arches. Stretch your calves. Rest until it settles down.

And yes, those things can help.

But what if the problem isn’t just your foot?

Your body works as one connected system.

Your upper body and spine rest on your hips. Your hips are supported by your glutes. Your legs, ankles and feet then have to manage everything happening above them every time you take a step.

When your hips and glutes are strong, they help support your body and control the forces travelling through it.

But when your hips and glutes are weak, everything starts to sink.

Instead of moving smoothly across the ground, almost floating from one step to the next, you start going down through it.

Every step becomes heavier.

Impact increases.

And right at the bottom of that chain are your feet and arches, now having to support loads they shouldn't have to.

Over thousands and thousands of steps, it's not difficult to see how problems can start appearing at the bottom of the chain.

That doesn't mean you should ignore the foot itself.

Of course look at your footwear.

Look at your foot mechanics.

Work on your calves, ankles and the smaller muscles supporting the foot.

And if the pain is severe or persistent, get it properly assessed.

But look above it too.

How strong are your glutes?

How stable are your hips?

How well do your legs control your body?

What is your balance like?

Are the smaller stabilising muscles actually doing their job?

Because sometimes we spend all our time trying to treat where the pain is, without asking why that area is struggling in the first place.

And that's a principle that goes far beyond plantar fasciitis.

Don't just treat the symptom. Look at the whole body and build strength from the foundations up.

"The pain might be in your foot, but don't stop your investigation there. Your feet are supporting everything above them, so make sure what's above them is doing its share of the work."

- Danielle Frost

RESEARCH / USEFUL SOURCES

• NHS: Plantar fasciitis