Plantar Fasciitis – Part 2

The list of options for the treatment of CPHP is quite extraordinary, and includes:
Extracorporeal Shock wave therapy (ECSWT)
Radiotherapy
Low dye taping
NSAID’s
Surgery
Tension night splint
Myofascial Trigger point therapy MTrP
Corticosteroid infiltration
Custom orthoses and prefabs
Stretching
Infiltration of platelet-rich plasma
Let us examine in detail the evidence from the literature in terms of the efficacy of the more common treatment options.
ECSWT
The results of the ESWT studies are equivocal, with Crawford et al (2008) reporting that ESWT is more effective than placebo but only reports a mean difference of 6% (reduction in heel pain)
STEROID INJECTIONS
The results from trials comparing steroid injections with placebo substances show
• no advantage in the active substance
• only a short term improvement over placebo (Crawford and Thomson, 2008)
LOW DYE TAPING
A study by Radford et al (2006) was able to demonstrate that when used for the short-term treatment of plantar heel pain, low-Dye taping provides improvement in 'first-step' pain compared with a sham intervention after a one week
NIGHT SPLINTS
According to Bekler et al (2007), patients without previous treatments for plantar fasciitis obtain significant relief of heel pain in the short term with the use of a night splint, however, this application does not have a significant effect on prevention of recurrences after a two-year follow-up. However, Attard and Singh (2012) compared the effectiveness of a posterior AFO (ankle –foot orthosis) , which dorsiflexes the foot, with an anterior AFO, which maintains the foot in a plantigrade position, and came to the conclusion that “Plantar fasciitis night AFOs are poorly tolerated orthoses but their use can be justified in that the pain levels are reduced. The anterior AFOs are more comfortable and more effective than posterior AFOs.”
CUSTOM FOOT ORTHOSES
Custom foot orthoses have been shown to be effective in both the short-term and long-term treatment of pain. Parallel improvements in function, foot-related quality of life, and a better compliance suggest that a foot orthosis is the best choice for initial treatment plantar fasciitis Roos et al 2006)
STRETCHING
Stretching the plantar fascia for CPHP has been shown to be superior to traditional weightbearing GSAT (gastrocnemius soleus Achilles tendon) stretching. Three randomised controlled trials have now shown the effectiveness of plantar fascial stretching (Rompe 2010, DiGiovanni 2006, DiGiovanni 2003). It must therefore now be concluded that specific stretching of the plantar fascia is an important part of treatment.
TRIGGER POINT DRY NEEDLING
A single randomised controlled trial by Cotchett et al (2011) provide evidence for the effectiveness of dry needling for the relief of CPHP.
PLATELET RICH PLASMA INFILTRATION
Once considered an experimental therapy for CPHP, platelet rich plasma (PRP) infiltration is gaining traction as a reliable and valid treatment option. Very recently Ragab and Othman(2012), injected 25 symptomatic CPHP sufferers with PRP. They found, using a visual analog pain scale, the average pre-injection pain in patients of was 9.1 (range 8–10). Prior to injection, 72 % of patients had severe limitation of activities, and 28 % of patients had moderate limitation of activities. Average post-injection pain decreased to 1.6. Twenty-two patients (88 %) were completely satisfied, two patients (8 %) were satisfied with reservations, and one patient (4 %)was unsatisfied. Fifteen patients (60 %) had no functional limitations post-injection and eight patients (32 %) had minimal functional limitations. Two patients (8 %) had moderate functional
limitations post-injection. Ultrasonography, demonstrated significant changes not only in thickness but also in the signal intensity of the plantar fascia after PRP injection. None of the subjects experienced any complications from PRP injection at the end of follow-up period. The study concluded that injection of PRP is safe and doesn’t affect the biomechanical function of the foot. The successful early findings with injection of PRP indicate that this may become a very commonly used modality in treating this difficult condition.

Hot off the press
Some very recent and interesting findings include the thought that morphological features of the fascial enthesis are related to regional loading and the static shape of arch in individuals with enthesopathy, (Wearing et al 2007). Interestingly, entheseal thickening in diabetes correlates with increased pressures beneath the foot during walking (D’Ambrogi 2005) and it is therefore believed that the energy dissipation ratio (EDR) is significantly less for plantar fat pad of the symptomatic limb than that of asymptomatic and control.
Thicker fascial entheses are associated with reduced energy dissipation of the plantar fat pad in the symptomatic population. The EDR is a measure of energy lost by viscous friction and it is an important indicator of the role and efficacy of the plantar fat pad in dampening high-frequency vibrations. Decreased energy dissipation leads to increased vibrational loading of deeper tissues which in turn leads to adaption of stress-dissipating fibrocartilagenous enthesis. The net result of this is that a 12% decrease in EDR equates to a 1mm increase in thickness of the enthesis.
Another important finding is that the fat pad thickness remains unchanged with enthesopathy.
Currently it is unknown if thickening of enthesis precedes, occurs with, or follows change in plantar fad pad properties (Wearing, 2010).
So, that’s us up to date with plantar fasciitis, which we shall now call Chronic Plantar Heel Pain or CPHP.
Based on the evidence, if I had to make treatment recommendations, they would be as follows:
• Institute the earliest intervention possible, do not wait for the pain to worsen.
• Use low dye taping as an immediate, short term management protocol.
• Use diagnostic ultrasound to identify fascial thickening
• Immediately incorporate a stretching program focussing on the triceps surae (calf) complex, and more specifically of the plantar fascia
• Consider using a lateral forefoot wedge of approximately 5 degrees to “unload” the fascia
• Especially consider a padded non rigid orthotic device. If a rigid orthosis is truly necessary, it must be covered with a suitable shock attenuating material, e.g. spenco, to ensure the shock dissipation ratio is not interfered with.
• Change treatment appropriately for more a chronic condition. There is some reasonable evidence for then use of ECSWT in plantar heel pain six months old or older.
For the athlete, and especially the runner, shoe selection will become very important. It seems recommending minimalist footwear (let’s for the sake of the argument call this a drop of 4mm or less), may be counterproductive given the increased ankle joint moment and eccentric load on the Achilles tendon. Some arch support may be beneficial, and it seems clear cushioning will be important in this condition. For those keen on barefoot and minimalist running, very careful transition back to this style of running after complete symptom resolution is recommended. Some product, for example the ASICS 3000 series, is specifically designed with a type of cradle built into the shoe that may help to distribute the load through the plantar fascia, especially at take off, more effective.
Hope this helps!



References
Riddle DL, Pulisic M, Pidcoe P, Johnson RE. Risk factors for plantar fasciitis: A matched case-control study. Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery. 2003;85:872–877.
Irving DB, Cook JL, Menz HB. Factors associated with chronic plantar heel pain: A systematic review. Journal of Science and Medicine in Sport. 2006; 9:11–22. doi: 10.1016/j.jsams.2006.02.004
Taunton JE, Ryan MB, Clement DB, et al. A retrospective case- control analysis of 2002 running injuries. Br J Sports Med, 2002; 36: 95-101
Rome K. Anthropometric and biomechanical risk factors in the development of plantar heel pain – a review of the literature. Physical Therapy Reviews. 1997;2:123–134.
Tong KB, Furia J: Economic burden of plantar fasciitis treatment in the
United States. Am J Orthop 2010, 39(5):227-231.
DeMaio, M., Payne, R., Mangine, R.E., Dres, D., 1993. Plantar
fasciitis. Orthopaedics 16 (10), 1153–1162.
Kaya, B.K., Plantar Fasciitis in Athletes. Journal of Sport Rehabilitation 1996 5:305-
320.
Sarrafian SK. Functional characteristics of the foot and plantar aponeurosis under tibiotalar loading. Foot & Ankle International. 1987;8:4–18.
Wearing S.C., et al. The Pathomechanics of Plantar Fasciitis. Sports Med 2006; 36 (7)


Boabighi A, Kuhlmann JN, Luboinski J, et al. Aponeuroses superficial fascia: mechanical and structural properties [in French]. Bull Assoc Anat (Nancy) 1993; 77: 3-7

Davis WH, Sobel M, DiCarlo EF, et al. Gross, histological, and microvascular anatomy and biomechanical testing of the spring ligament complex. Foot Ankle Int 1996; 17: 95-102

Benjamin M, Ralphs JR. The cell and developmental biology of tendons and ligaments. Int Rev Cytol 2000; 196: 85-130

Warren BL. Plantar fasciitis in runners: treatment and prevention. Sports Med 1990; 10: 338-45

McMillan AM, Landorf KB, Barrett JT, Menz HB, Bird AR. Diagnostic imaging for
chronic plantar heel pain: a systematic review and meta-analysis. J Foot Ankle
Res 2009;2(32).

Johal, K.S., and Milnar, D.M., 2012. Plantar fasciitis and the calcaneal spur: Fact or fiction?
Foot and Ankle Surgery 18 39–41
Kim et al Journal of foot and Ankle Surgery Volume 49, Issue 5, September 2010
Menz HB, Zammit GV, Landorf KB, Munteanu SE. Plantar calcaneal spurs in older
people: longitudinal traction or vertical compression? J Foot Ankle Res 2008;1(7).
Lutter, L.D., Plantar fasciitis: A guide to appropriate diagnosis and treatment. 1997. The Medical
Journal of Allina 6 (2)

Cook, J.L., Purdam, C., Is compressive load a factor in the development of tendinopathy? BJSM
Online First, published on November 22, 2011 as 10.1136/bjsports-2011-090414
Sahin, N. et al Foot mobility and plantar fascia elasticity in patients with plantar fasciitis Ozturk Acta Orthop Traumatol 2010; 44 (5)
Irving DB, Cook JL, Young MA, Menz HB. Obesity and pronated foot type may
increase the risk of chronic heel pain: a matched case-control study. BMC
Musculoskelet Disord 2007;8:41
Wearing,S.C. Sagittal movement of the medial longitudinal arch is unchanged in plantar fasciitis.
Med Sci Sports Exerc. 2004 Oct;36(10)

Crawford F, Thomson C. Interventions for treating plantar heel pain. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews 2008
Radford et al Effectiveness of low-Dye taping for the short-term treatment of
plantar heel pain: a randomised trial BMC Musculoskeletal Disorders 2006, 7:64
Bekler et al, Acta Orthop Traumatol Turc. 2007;41(3):220-224
Attard, J., and Singh D. 2012. A comparison of two night ankle-foot orthoses used in the
treatment of inferior heel pain: A preliminary investigation. Foot and Ankle Surgery 18 (2012)
108–110
Roos, E., et al Foot orthoses for the treatment of plantar fasciitis. Foot Ankle Int. 2006 Aug;27(8):606-11
Rompe, J.D., et al Plantar Fascia-Specific Stretching Versus Radial Shock-Wave Therapy as Initial Treatment of Plantar Fasciopathy J Bone Joint Surg Am. 2010;92:2514-22
Cotchett et al, Effectiveness of trigger point dry needling for plantar heel pain: study protocol for a randomised controlled trial. Journal of Foot and Ankle Research 2011, 4:5
Wearing, S.C., et al Plantar fasciitis: are pain and fascial thickness associated with arch shape and loading?Phys Ther 2007;87(8)
DiGiovanni BF, Nawoczenski DA, Lintal ME, et al. Tissue-specific plantar fascia stretching
exercises enhance outcomes in patients with chronic heel pain: a prospective, randomised study. J Bone Joint Surg Am 2003;85-A:1270–7.

DiGiovanni BF, Nawoczenski DA, Malay DP, Graci PA, Williams TT, Wilding GE,
Baumhauer JF. Plantar fascia-specific stretching exercise improves outcomes in
patients with chronic plantar fasciitis. A prospective clinical trial with two-year followup.
J Bone Joint Surg Am. 2006;88:1775-81.

Wearing, S.C., et al Thickening of the Enthesis Is Correlated With
Energy Dissipation of the Plantar Fat Pad During Walking Am J Sports Med 2010 38:2522