Get Some Relief for Your Plantar Fasciitis with Therapeutic Injections

Although only about 1% of women and men in the United States are diagnosed with plantar fasciitis each year, if you’re among them, you probably find walking extremely painful. Heel and foot pain takes you out of every game, making it difficult, if not impossible, to exercise and stay in shape.

You’re more likely to develop plantar fasciitis as you age; if you’re female, you’re also more likely to suffer this type of foot inflammation. 

Kellie K. Middleton, MD, is an orthopedic specialist in Lawrenceville, Georgia, who wants to help you stay active and pain-free. As a former athlete who’s always on the go, she knows that foot pain can make it difficult or impossible to achieve your daily tasks, including self-care activities.

As a remedy to plantar fasciitis and other forms of foot pain, our team offers a variety of injections. Here’s a brief guide to why you have plantar fasciitis, how to manage your condition, and why injections may give you long-sought relief.

Why your plantar fascia causes pain

You may be aware of the new focus on the role of fascia in pain. Gyms now have fascia rollers and other equipment to stretch and strengthen the fibrous tissue surrounding your muscles.

Plantar fascia is one type of fascia that’s long been known to cause pain. Your plantar fascia is a fibrous and tough band of tissue that runs from your heel bone to your toes. When it’s healthy, it supports the arch of your foot and helps your foot maintain healthy mechanics in motion.

However, your plantar fascia may develop rips and tears over time or with trauma. In response, your body tries to heal the damage by triggering an immune response that includes inflammation. If the damage is too severe for the body to heal on its own, that inflammation and swelling become chronic, and so does the pain.

How you injured your plantar fascia

You may never have given your feet much thought until they made taking even a single step an act of bravery. But your feet take a tremendous amount of stress and punishment, even during the course of a normal day. Your feet and plantar fascia receive the burden of your entire body’s weight while walking, running, or jumping.

Anything that creates added stress on the plantar fascia increases the risk of tears and fasciitis. Athletes, not surprisingly, are susceptible to plantar fasciitis owing to the extremes of motion and stress to which they subject their feet.

But you can injure your plantar fasciitis by standing, walking, or running for prolonged periods, even if you’re not an athlete. Wearing the wrong shoes, such as high heels or worn-out athletic shoes, also can result in damage. Even being overweight — which drastically increases the stress on your feet — raises your risk.

Why injections help your pain

Dr. Middleton always recommends lifestyle adjustments as well as therapeutic interventions when treating a sports or movement injury. She may advise working with a physical therapist to help gradually stretch out the plantar fascia so that it’s more pliable and less subject to injury. Custom-designed orthotics can support your aching feet.

However, while you’re waiting for your heel to heal, you need relief so that you can return to your normal activities. She may recommend injections to ease pain and subdue inflammation.

Corticosteroid injections are effective at relieving pain for weeks to months at a time. She usually prescribes them in addition to orthotics and lifestyle interventions, including stretching and exercising your feet.

She may also help your tissues heal with injections that actually stimulate your body to repair injuries at an accelerated rate. Platelet-rich plasma (PRP) therapy uses concentrations of your own platelets to give your body the rebuilding materials it needs to heal. 

She may also recommend stem cell injections or ReNu® injections. These are formulated from the donated placental tissue and amniotic fluids of healthy, live-born babies.

Get back on your feet pain-free by contacting our knowledgeable team by phone or the online form for plantar fasciitis injections today.