How To Wrap Your Foot For Plantar Fasciitis. Let Find Out.
If you are an athlete or actively involved in active sports, I bet you familiarize with the plantar fasciitis pain. The pain is more than just a pain; I bet it would hinder you from carrying out your day to day activities if not rendering you immobile. Statistics shows that this condition affects not less than 30 percent of the world’s population.
The most annoying thing is that there are no pills that can quickly treat the pain, and surgery won’t sound like the best option for treating the condition. The fact is steroid injection hardly helps. On the other hand, ignoring the pain can further escalate the problem to become a permanent life fixture. In this leaflet we’ll get you understand how to wrap your foot for plantar fasciitis.
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Understanding plantar fasciitis
When someone has this condition, it means their thick band of tissues (plantar fascia) that connects the heel bone to the toes has inflammation. The pain usually starts with the very first step that one makes in the morning and slowly decreases as you walk. The pain however will return once you remain seated for long periods then you get up, or after standing for long then you start walking. This condition is most common among athletes, pregnant women, overweight people and anyone who puts on shoes that do not have adequate support.
What causes plantar fasciitis?
Several factors may cause you to have this disturbing sharp pain like,
- 1. Sex – Most women compared to men are likely to suffer from this condition
- 2. Age – the condition is most common in those of the age bracket of 40 to 60, but it is not true to say that people below this age cannot suffer from it.
- 3. Some physical exercise – if you engage in activities which are likely to exert too much stress on your heel areas and the attached tissues, you are likely to develop plantar fasciitis. These sports such as long distance running, dance acrobatic or ballet dancing are likely to trigger its onset from a younger period.
- 4. Some occupations – teacher who stand for long hours a day, factory worker and people in such occupations may damage their plantar fascia leading to these complications.
- 5. Obesity – obese people exert a lot of stress on their plantar fascia, which may trigger the condition
- 6. The kind of shoes – always put on shoes which can efficiently absorb shock. Those with thin soles and high heeled ones should be avoided.
How to ease the pain by wrapping your foot for plantar fascia
Using a tape for plantar fasciitis is so far a proven way to relieve pain or stress on the plantar fascia. This tape typically unloads the stress on your feet so that you can comfortably walk normally again. The tape does this by limiting the fascia movement. Other conditions which the taping can ease include heel spurs, and many foot inflammation problems.
When embarking on this taping exercise, check that you have an athletic tape, which is also known as the elastic therapeutic tape. Alternatively, you can use a kinesiology tape. When these tapes are placed on the fascia ligament, they help to limit the amount of stretching that the ligament can do.
If this ligament is let to stretch excessively, the fascia fibers could tear apart. The tape should be wound every other morning to see you throughout the day, or before a sporting activity (this will restrain the fascia from moving rapidly during the sports activity).
Do not leave the tape on foot all day or all night as this will inhibit your skin from breathing. First, clean your feet with a non-moisturizing soap, then again dry them before starting the process. Clean feet will help your tape to stick.
Here are the tips on how to tape your plantar fasciitis
- 1. You need to place your anchor strips around the metatarsal area of your foot.
- 2. Wrap that area several times, then use another piece to wrap the feet from the metatarsal area just near your big toe, and make sure you place it around your heel, then attach the origin just behind the big toe.
- 3. Starting closer to the smaller toe, again wrap another strip around your heel. Now you will have to repeat this process several times on these areas because in so doing you add support. When finished, you should come up with something that looks like X on the mid foot area.
- 4. Then make sure you close all the gaps to reinforce the tapped region. You will do this by placing more tapes on the wrapped area.
Method 2 of tapping your plantar fascia
Whenever you have a tear or shear on the underneath part of your foot, always use this method to ease the pain.
- 1. Place an anchor around the top of your foot exactly where your planter fascia ends.
- 2. Do the same but this time, on the bottom of your foot over the heel; however, be careful not to rub the achilles with the tape.
- 3. Now relax your foot as you apply the strips along the length of your planter fascia. For easy taping, measure the desired length of tape then rip it, other than applying it while still on the role.
- 4. Apply the tape from the middle of your foot then at the heel, fanning outwards to the outside of your foot.
- 5. Apply the second strip on the outside and then the third one on the center of your foot.
- 6. To give your taping a bit of support, you will apply another one more strip along the inside of your foot. All this time, the foot is relaxed and make sure the tape lies on top of the foot without much tension.
- 7. Once more, redo both the anchors on top and bottom of your foot ensuring you do not apply any tension and pressure. Add the last strip to the medial arch of your foot as this will give it more support. Make sure it runs through the medial arch all around the heel and back again across to its starting point.
In conclusion
As I have demonstrated above, plantar fasciitis taping can be of great help when drugs and other measures seem to take long to take effect. However while this process will help you treat the symptom of the disorder, it could be much better to for you to get other treatment options available. Aim at treating the cause to ensure you leave a much a happier life, free from this disturbing condition.
Moreover, it’s crucial to work closely with your physician to get plantar fasciitis on top. It can be a long journey for both of you and your physician, in which communication is the key!
Feel free to share and leave a comment below. And if you’ve any specific taping requests that you feel should be included in the next cover please let us know!
References
http://www.rjah.nhs.uk/About-Us/Publications/Patient-Leaflets/Plantar-Fasciitis-Leaflet.aspx
https://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/02/20/no-consensus-on-a-common-cause-of-foot-pain/?_r=0
