Foot Pain
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Foot pain can come from several different points and origins. The origin can be quite a distance away from the foot, while others can be pinpointed exactly on the foot and can give a good indication as to what is wrong. However, getting an osteopathic assessment will help find the cause of the foot pain.
The following cover some of the more common ones that we see and treat at the clinic.
Planter-fasciitis
The symptoms that you can feel are on the sole of your foot. It can feel quite tender to touch. It usually comes on slowly over time and can progressively increase in sensitivity.
The condition involves inflammation to the fascia on the sole of your foot. This fascia acts as a tension between the fore foot and the large bone of the heel. In the morning it will be at its best but throughout the day it progressively gets more painful. If you press on a certain point close to the heel at the bottom of the foot this may increase the pain.
The causes of planter fasciitis can be from a change in footwear, altered biomechanics, increase in weight, and increased tension in the posterior or the back leg muscles, such as the calf or thigh muscles.
Treatment
Treatment from an Osteopathic perspective is firstly finding the cause; it is usually not difficult, as it has been successfully treated through Osteopathic practitioners for many years.
Working directly on the area as well as surrounding tissues helps to elevate the discomfort. Using the information on the tissue conditions allows the Osteopath to direct if needed stretching and self-treatment to stop inflammation and maintain a healthy state. In some cases Orthotics have been seen to help with planter fasciitis by supporting the Biomechanics of the foot.
The clinic also can talk to you about different foods that can lessen the inflammatory response, as well as highlight foods that increase the inflammatory response.
Achilles Heel or Achilles Tendinopathy
Usually this will give symptoms of pain at the back of the heel and will make it difficult to step off your fore foot. It can feel like a lump as small as a pigeon egg at the back of your heel just where the calf muscle joins the foot.
It is usually more painful walking down hill; it can be quite severe if there has been a significant tear within the Achilles tendon itself. Most of the pain again is due to inflammation within the fascia, t which can lead to disorder within the fibres and create “a lesion” or “adhesions” within the structures, so having osteopathic treatment will help to lessen the pain
Treatment
One treatment approach is to reorganize the tissue fibre of the injury, as well as release the pressure on the area with osteopathic treatment techniques. Our goal is twofold – to reduce pain relief followed by rebalancing the tissue structures. It is a measurable condition and as such treatment is speedy. For any further information please just call and I would be glad to answer any questions.
Ankle Sprains
The treatment is to assess whether there is a fracture as the symptoms can be similar. It is recommended to see your osteopath or doctor to have it assessed.
What has been found with ankle sprains is a decrease in proprioception (neurological amnesia) post injury. This, along with ligament damage in some cases, can also take place with such injuries. This can leave the ankle in a susceptible state and can lead to further injuries of the same nature. To combat this, it is advised to rehabilitate the ankle. It should be noted that even with minor injuries involving lateral ankle strain, it is worth rehabilitating the injury.
If you need any further information, please feel free to call.