Plantar Fasciitis Parnell | Morning Heel Pain Fix

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As we come towards the end of summer we start to see a lot of heel pain particularly Plantar fasciitis. Everyone is out and about in their jandals or birkenstocks and hitting our beautiful waterfront. 

Classic examples can be “I did the water front  walk in a pair of jandals and now my heel hurts when I get up in the morning” OR “I was going well with my long runs but probably added an extra 7kms and the following morning my heel was really sore” and occasionally “I read born to run and decided to run 10kms with no shoes on.”

Plantar fascia pain (plantar fasciitis) has a typical presentation of the following:

  • The first few steps in the morning aren’t great. You really aren’t looking forward to getting out of bed. Sometimes it can be 30 minutes before you feel like you can take a proper step


  • If you have been sitting for a while and get up the first few steps are sore it feels like you are 80 years old and just stepped on a rock


  • It can start to hurt the more you run or walk


  • Pain is located close to the heel only


  • If you did more than normal walking or running wise that pain is back 10 x as bad the following morning. even if it had been finally getting better.

If you don’t have the above you most likely don’t have “plantar fasciitis.”

BELIEVE IT OR NOT, THERE ARE ACTUALLY 7  STRUCTURES THAT CAN REFER PAIN AROUND THE HEEL.

Your lower back, 2 x nerves, your calf muscle (soleus), a muscle in your foot called quadratus plantae, your plantar fascia and a fat pad …….and yes we have fixed people’s heel pain by only treating their low backs and yes it still gives us a kick 

However, if you have the above symptoms read on. I am going to give you some tips and my fave taping that has literally helped thousands of people suffering from heel pain feel better quickly. 

It is not technically Plantar Fasciitis it is technically Plantar Fasciosis

Studies show degenerative changes at the Plantar Fascia origin, deterioration of collagen fibres and increased random blood vessels (Lemont et al 2003). 

This is the same process that we see in tendons. There is no evidence of an inflammatory process so technically it is not an itis. So this all means that if you do too much exercise/ walk too far/ run too far for your plantar fascia at that point in time you overload it. If you keep doing it, the process we see is degenerative. Taking Voltaren will not help as it isn’t inflamed. 

TIP 1 - OFFLOAD THE PAINFUL TISSUE

It is an overload condition so offload with my fave low dye taping. See video below. If you need any help you’re more than welcome to come see me in Parnell. 

TIP 2 - GIVE IT A LITTLE FOOT STRETCH

Stretching your foot and calf before you weight bear first thing in the morning is very very helpful. Aim for about 30 seconds each stretch. 


Your calf muscles attach into your Plantar Fascia. Stretching your calves will literally take the pressure off your sore heel. 


If you suspect you have more than one source of heel pain, want to fast track your outcome to get back to exercise faster or simply aren’t getting anywhere come into the clinic.

If you live in the Auckland area click HERE for our Parnell Physiotherapy clinic. 



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