SaveYourself.ca • Sensible advice for aches, pains & injuries
EXCERPT The information in this article has been absorbed into SaveYourself.ca’s ridiculously detailed tutorial about plantar fasciitis.
Research groups in Australia and Taiwan and Turkey all confirmed in 2007 that — and I know you were wondering about this — yes, the connective tissue in the arch of your foot really does get thicker — a lot thicker — when you have plantar fasciitis.
If you have plantar fasciitis, chances are good that your plantar fascia is more than twice as thick as it should be. It’s that rather surprising amount of thickness that makes this newsworthy, at least for those of you with plantar fasciitis.
(While they were at it, the Australians and the Taiwanese also confirmed a connection between the thickening and flat feet. Flat feet, thick soles, and plantar fasciitis all tend to go together.)
Plantar fasciitis isn’t exactly a difficult condition to diagnose (although I’ve seen it happen). But if you have any doubt about a foot pain diagnosis, this thickening is a nice clear physical sign that can be reliably diagnosed with ultrasonography. So if you’d like to confirm this, all you have to do is bring it to your doctor’s attention and request ultrasound confirmation that you have “thick feet.”
For much (much much much) more information, see my advanced tutorial covering pretty much every imaginable thing about dealing with the condition:
Most plantar fasciitis can be cured!
Sadly, few patients ever get good advice. SaveYourself.ca offers an incredibly detailed plantar fasciitis tutorial that is the last thing you’ll ever have to read on the subject. Find out exactly which treatments are proven to work — and which ones aren’t, all based on more than 130 footnotes and clearly annotated references to the scientific literature. Add it to your shopping cart now ($19.95) or read the first few sections for free!
