If you’ve ever struggled with plantar fasciitis, you know how unpleasant it is: it’s the feeling of being pierced in the heel with a hot needle again and again with every action you take.
When you walk or run, particularly on materials that are solid and unyielding, the pressure applied by your body weight can trigger stress on the plantar fascia (the strand of soft tissue that connects your toes to your heel).
With time, this strain can become the on-going discomfort and swelling we call plantar fasciitis. With the persistent ache of plantar fasciitis, your capability to endure the discomfort of foot pain — and your desire to maintain life as usual — is tested.
Sadly, there’s no magic plantar fasciitis treatment. But there are several ways to ease chronic pain from plantar fasciitis, and one of the best methods is foot massage therapy. Not only is massage treatment low-cost and widely accessible, but it is also verified to be an effective treatment for alleviating plantar fasciitis pain.
Calf stretching, icing the affected location, and massaging your plantar fascia can all help to provide relief from pain. But why does massage therapy succeed so well for plantar fasciitis? Let’s take a look at how massage therapy works to relieve this frequent cause of heel discomfort.
So What is Massage Therapy?
Massage treatment is a non-invasive treatment making use of various physical strokes and methods to administer force to the muscles, tissues and nerve endings of your body.
Massage therapists adjust your connective tissues and muscles to help lessen muscle stress and pain, improve blood flow, and promote relaxation. It can be utilized as a kind of preventive healthcare or as a therapy for unique concerns such as plantar fasciitis.
How Does Massage Alleviate Pain for Plantar Fasciitis?
When you get plantar fasciitis, the tissue under your foot gets inflamed, puffy, and exceptionally tender. This can also take place in your calves if you have bad posture or a poor gait cycle.
Where plantar fasciitis and poor posture are concerned, massage therapy is used to disperse the lactic acid crystals that accumulate in the tissue of the calves and bottoms of the feet. This helps ease swelling and discomfort, as well as improving your foot’s range of motion.
Massage is additionally thought to be beneficial in treating plantar fasciitis due to the fact that it increases blood circulation to the impacted soft tissue injuries.
More blood flow to the target tissue means more oxygen and nutrients getting to that painful, inflamed tissue. That helps to hasten the restorative healing process, so you can get back to normal as quickly as possible.
Which Kind of Massage is the Best for Plantar Fasciitis?
Considering that plantar fasciitis is an uncomfortable ailment, a lot of experts strongly recommend a deep tissue massage for relief.
Deep tissue massage is a kind of massage treatment that targets the underlying layers of connective tissue and muscle. It is normally performed with tougher pressure, often employing the therapist’s knuckles or elbows.
Rewards of Massage Therapy for Plantar Fasciitis
Beyond reducing the pain of plantar fasciitis and speeding up the restorative healing process, massage therapy delivers a number of other benefits:
- Enhances Sleep – Receiving a massage is a fantastic method to loosen up and quiet your body down prior to you fall asleep. It may be a valuable way to decrease stress, unwind after a long day, and enhance your sleep quality.
- Lessens Clinical Depression and Anxiety – A massage can be a terrific method to address emotions of stress and anxiety and depression. It’s a kind of self-care that will deeply unwind your body, mind, and spirit.
- Improves Your Immune System – When you are stressed or nervous, your system enters its fight or flight response. This triggers your body’s immune system to minimize its performance to prevent expending too much energy.
How Frequently Should You Have Massage Therapy for Plantar Fasciitis?
If you have plantar fasciitis, you ought to have a massage a minimum of once a week. For best outcomes, you can experiment with integrating massage therapy with other forms of treatment, like icing, stretching, and making use of supportive insoles and shoes. Make certain to speak with your massage therapist for the ideal frequency for your massage appointments.
How to Select a Fantastic Massage Therapist
When you’re looking for a massage therapist, the very first thing you should try is to ask around. See if any friends or loved ones can suggest a therapist they’ve had a positive experience with.
Apart from that, there are a couple of other ways you can discover a great massage therapist:
- It is best to pick a massage therapist who concentrates on sports massage. Sports massage is a type of massage therapy that concentrates on the particular needs of athletes, including joints, muscles, and other soft structures like the plantar fascia. To be beneficial, a sports massage therapist ought to have training in anatomy and biomechanics.
- Look at online reviews – You can find evaluations for most massage therapists online. Make sure to try to find reviews from clients that have similar issues as you do.
- Check your insurance – If you have medical insurance, it may cover massage therapy. Before you make an appointment, check to see if massage therapy is covered under your insurance plan.
- Ask your doctor – Your doctor knows you best. If you have plantar fasciitis and you are looking for a massage therapist, ask your medical professional for a referral.
Conclusion
When you have plantar fasciitis, you can suffer from a lot of pain and discomfort. One fantastic means to ease this discomfort is by receiving regular massage treatments. Massage therapy can help to dissolve lactic acid crystals, boost blood circulation, and accelerate the recuperation process.
Contact Market Mall Physiotherapy today and we can start easing your plantar fasciitis discomfort. Now scheduling new appointments!
