Plantar fasciitis is a painful condition affecting the plantar fascia, in the sole of the foot, usually around the heel and arch of the foot. Although relatively common in the general population, due to the repetitive nature of running and hard road surfaces many people run on, plantar fasciitis is frequently seen in runners. Here we look at how two new therapies can be used to help in the treatment of plantar fasciitis here in Norfolk.
For more information on Plantar Fasciitis and how Neural Reset Therapy and Rossiter Stretching work on Plantar Fasciitis have a look at the blog “Plantar Fasciitis Pain Relief”
Clare: Her plantar fasciitis and her love of running
Clare loved to run, I’d seen her a regularly when our paths crossed in the morning, her running and me walking the dog. However one morning she was was more walking than running, well hobbling really. We got talking and she said she was suffering with plantar fasciitis especially when running. She had tried all the usual tricks recommended:
Icing her foot after running
Stretching her calves
More of a warm-up
Changed her trainers
Resting/stopped running for a couple of weeks
Reduced the distance she was running
Changed running route to softer ground
Nothing was helping and although she wasn’t a long-distance or competitive runner it helped her mental health and she enjoyed it…she wanted to get back into it, doing the distances that she enjoyed.
Plantar fasciitis in runners is not uncommon, a significant number of runners also suffer from tight calves which can exacerbate the risks for plantar fasciitis.
Chatting to Clare I told her about Neural Reset Therapy and the Rossiter Stretching work I did alongside Pilates and how it can help in the treatment of plantar fasciitis. She was keen to give it a go, already knowing about the Pilates side of my life but she hadn’t heard of either Rossiter Stretching or Neural Reset Therapy.
How Neural Reset Therapy & Rossiter Stretching can help in the treatment for plantar fasciitis
Plantar fasciitis treatment traditionally works on 2 principles; reduce the inflammation in the plantar fascia and stretch the tight calf muscles.
Neural Reset Therapy works by resetting the tone of the muscle. I began working with Clare on the posterior (back of) leg muscles starting at her hamstrings as there were a few trigger points here. I have found that just working on the area of pain and not exploring any contributing source of the problem elsewhere does not give the best results. Remember muscles link together to form chains of movement they do not work in isolation.
I then worked down the rest of Clare’s leg resetting muscles as trigger points arose, the main area of which was, as expected, her calf muscles. As well as the small muscles in the sole (plantar) of her foot.
At the end of the session there were still some areas of tension, much reduced but still present in the calf. This was where the Rossiter Stretching technique came into its own.
Rossiter Stretching is a form of assisted stretching where the coach ‘pins’ an area and the client stretches from that. It gives a much deeper more effective result than regular stretching.
Knowing that the muscle tone had been reset and there were no trigger points elsewhere in the leg allowed me to focus on the calf area using the Rossiter Stretching technique.
After a couple of quick Rossiter Stretching exercises, Clare had a walk around the studio. She immediately felt how much lighter her calves felt and how much more sensation she had in her feet.
She made the decision to rest from running for a few days but go for some walks instead then slowly build back up again with a follow-up appointment being made a week later.
The follow-up & the road ahead
On her follow-up visit, we discussed what had happened over the preceding week and how the walking had been. Clare was thrilled to report that she was walking without pain and that she tried a bit of light jogging which had also been pain-free.
On the follow-up treatment we revisited all the areas of tenderness from before and reset as needed (most were fine or just needed a minor reset). Again the calves were our main focus as they still had some tightness and I had in mind Clare’s goal of getting back into running properly. We worked on the calves with the Neural Reset Therapy and more Rossiter Stretching and again Clare could feel a looseness in her calf that she hadn’t had before.
I am pleased to say Clare is back to running the distances she wants and decided to add regular top-up sessions as the results gave her such a spring in her step.
Intrigued? Get In Touch to see how Neural Reset Therapy or Rossiter Stretching could help you