Astym Therapy For Plantar Fasciitis

Plantar Fasciitis is the most common cause of heel pain. One million Americans seek treatment for Plantar Fasciitis each year. Astym therapy is researched, tested, and proven to work. If you are tired of hurting, even if no other treatments have worked for you, it’s time to try Astym therapy and find relief.

The plantar fascia is the thick, fibrous band of tissue that connects your heel bone to your toes. Like a bow string, it creates the arch of your foot and acts as a shock absorber. Sometimes, this tissue begins to degenerate, resulting in the condition Plantar Fasciitis/Plantar Fasciopathy (PF). PF is the most common cause of soft tissue heel pain, affecting one in ten people and accounting for about 8% of all running related injuries. It is estimated that one million visits per year are made in the USA for treatment of PF (Foot and Ankle Surgery Journal).

The term “plantar fasciitis” is misleading because chronic plantar fasciitis is really a degenerative process which rarely includes inflammatory cells. Traditionally, a term containing “itis” at the end means inflammation, and now that we understand that the condition is primarily degenerative, the better term would be plantar fasciosis or fasciopathy. Why does the plantar fascia degenerate, causing pain and impaired movement?

The likely answer is mechanical (rather than arthritic, neurological, traumatic, or other systemic conditions). Repetitive strain and advancing age are often looked to first.

PF is considered to have multiple causes, with the most common being overuse – meaning too much stress or strain being put on the heel tissue, either from sports, work, or everyday life.

Risk Factors for PF may include:

In athletes:

There is no standard, widely accepted test for diagnosing PF. A clinical diagnosis may be issued after a history is taken and a physical exam is performed. PF is characterized by the onset of plantar heel pain after periods of rest. It is usually worse in the morning right after getting out of bed, with the first few steps. Although walking may help initially, the pain can recur as you keep walking. The pain can get worse after a period of intense activity, such as running, or after a long period of standing or walking, especially on a hard surface or when you climb stairs. Another common symptom is the inability to comfortably bend your foot so that the toes are brought up toward your shin (dorsiflexion). Some also complain of pain on toe extension.  Resting may help alleviate the pain of PF, but after getting up and bearing weight after a rest period, the pain may be significant. Even though there are similar patterns of symptoms, the pain can vary in location, level and pain and duration. Up to one third of patients with PF will have PF in both feet, and it can affect both sedentary and athletic people. 

If a patient exhibits these symptoms and has tenderness at the plantar aspect of the medial calcaneal tuberosity around the fascia insertion on the os calcis then often a medical practitioner may conclude PF is the likely culprit.  Ultrasound can be used to confirm the clinical diagnosis if it shows certain factors, including plantar fascia thickening (>4-4.5mm) at its calcaneal insertion, and the reduced ability of a tissue to reflect an ultrasound wave.  There may be degeneration effecting the normal reflective structure and disorganization of the normal ligament architecture.

If your insurance plan includes physical and occupational therapy, Astym therapy should be covered by your insurance. If your plan does not include physical and occupational therapy, talk with your therapist about other payment options.

There is only one Astym therapy. It was produced through rigorous scientific development: from theory through basic science investigation to clinical study and practice. It has been proven to be safe and effective in multiple controlled clinical trials, and in over 10,000 independently collected outcomes from multiple centers across the country. Make sure your clinician is Astym Certified by checking our directory of Astym Certified providers, and looking for the Astym Certified Provider Seal and Astym Instruments. Picture? If you are not receiving genuine Astym therapy, research shows that it is likely ineffective and perhaps harmful. For more details see LINK to Astym therapy vs IASTM page.

The treatment you receive should always be within your tolerance, and you should talk with your certified provider and be honest about your experience.

The gold standard to measure your success is whether your pain has been decreased or eliminated and whether you can do the activities you want to do – climb stairs, dance, run, participate in sports, play with your grandkids, etc.