Plantar fasciitis is one of frequent musculoskeletal disorder observed by foot doctors. It is an inflammation along with degeneration of the plantar fascia which is a long and strong ligament that supports the arch of the feet. The common symptoms are discomfort below the heel bone and a whole lot worse pain on arising from rest, mainly in the early morning after a night’s rest. Any situation that raises the load on the arch of the feet are going to overload the plantar fascia. For example being overweight, getting active, standing on your feet throughout the day and biomechanical issues that affect the alignment of the feet. There are various therapies that are recommended for this problem, with the more effective ones being the ones that reduce the load placed on the plantar fascia.

There has been plenty of interest on using foam rollers to relieve soft tissue disorders recently, and the question gets asked often as to if we are able to use a foam roller for plantar fasciitis?

It’s quite common to see advice provided to move the foot forwards and backwards over a tennis ball on the ground and that this will assist the this condition. This could have the same impact to what a foam roller will have. No studies have shown that this will be useful, though lots of people make use of the roller. Having said that, there is certainly many health care professionals that can encourage against using it. It’s not at all dangerous, however they believe that it just does not do a great deal of good if compared to the other remedies that can be used and so are quite possibly far better. One idea to think about is that when we hurt ourselves, rubbing the spot of the soreness often generally seems to feel better. That doesn’t indicate the massaging in fact repairs the condition, it simply makes it feel a little improved. This can be perhaps why so many health professionals are cynical regarding recommending self-massage or foam rolling for the plantar fasciitis.

New research was lately published for the using a foam roller for plantar fasciitis. This was a randomized controlled study evaluating the use of a foam roller to stretching. Generally in clinical practice it is not a question of opting to use one solution or any other similar to this clinical trial. Several treatment options tend to be used together in combination, therefore the medical study is almost unnatural. That being said, the study did show that each worked similarly or the foam roller might be a slightly bit superior, so utilizing the foam roller to massage the arch area of the foot in individuals with heel pain definitely does help.

In line with the above in all probability it is advisable to use something similar to the foam roller. There are actually certain foam rollers, such as the Pediroller, which are designed to roll in the mid-foot (arch) of the feet. They might not solve heel pain, but based on the stories and that one piece of research, it can definitely make it feel better at the very least. This is more than enough justification to be able to have a go.