Plantar fasciitis is one of the common cause of heel pain. It is a strain of a connective tissue that runs from the front of the foot to the rear foot attaching in the heel.
When you have plantar fasciitis, it makes your foot not function right and your foot doesn’t take the shock as it should and what it can do is, it can actually travel up the kinetic chain, meaning, it travels up to the ankle, to the knee, to the hip, to the low back and beyond and starts to cause a lot of issues.
So, plantar fasciitis should not just go left unchecked. It’s something that you really want to take care of if you start to have it. Even choosing proper footwear is also very important.
To understand more about the implications of this, here are some interesting facts and statistics.
Approximately 10% of people have plantar fasciitis at some point during their life.[1] In fact, obesity is a factor in 70% of plantar fasciitis cases.[2]
In the United States alone, more than two million people receive treatment for plantar fasciitis. The cost of treating plantar fasciitis in the United States is estimated to be $284 million each year. [1]
Plantar fasciitis is the third most-common injury in runners.[3]
People with the highest risk for plantar fasciitis are those between 40 and 60 years old, and this condition is slightly more common among women compared to men.[4]
Did you know that the average woman walks 3 miles more every day than the average man, that might be why women are four times as likely to experience foot problems than men.[2]
A study done found that pregnant women in their last two trimesters had higher forefront pressure while standing and walking than overweight women.[5]
Plantar fasciitis comprises approximately 15% of all foot complaints in the United States.[6]
More than 90 percent of people with plantar fasciitis experience a significant reduction in pain after less than a year of treatment.[7]
The American Podiatric Medical Association (APMA) conducted a study that revealed 77 percent of Americans (18 and up) suffer from foot pain.[8]
Plantar fasciitis is the most common type of plantar fascia injury and is the most common reason for heel pain, responsible for 80% of cases. [9]
Just about 20 percent of the population in the United States has high arches–a leading contributor to Plantar Fasciitis if not properly supported![2]
On the other end of the spectrum, 60 million Americans (about 25% of the population in the United States) have flat feet–another major red flag for Plantar Fasciitis.[2]
1 in 10 people has a heel spur, but only 1 in 20 people with heel spurs experiences pain.
50% of patients with plantar fasciitis have heel spur, but the spurs themselves are not the cause.[11] Approximately 50% of people with plantar fasciitis are on their feet all day.
In a study published in the Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery, heel pain was either eliminated or much improved at eight weeks in 52% of patients who were treated with an exercise program to stretch the plantar fascia. [2]
Several studies have shown that use of night splints has resulted in improvement in approximately 80 percent of patients using night splints. Moderate evidence exists to support the use of night splints for 1–3 months to relieve plantar fasciitis pain that has persisted for six months.
Treatment options such as orthotics, foot taping, cortisone injections, night splints, and anti-inflammatories decrease symptoms significantly in about 95 percent of sufferers within six weeks. [3]
Fourteen percent reported improved symptoms simply from changing their shoes. [8]
Studies have found steroid treatments to have a success rate of 70 percent or better.[13]
Study shows 58.3% of plantar fasciitis patients wear inappropriate shoes.[14]
A 2012 study found 76% of patients who underwent endoscopic plantar fasciotomy had complete relief of their symptoms and had few complications.[9]
