Plantar Fasciitis is a common pain and injury millions of people suffer with every day. There are myriads of treatments but some of them take long periods of time to work. A lot of people when they have Plantar Fasciitis do not like to be laid up unable to compete or exercise. Let’s face it, running, basketball, soccer and tennis are some of the many sports and exercises it is nearly impossible to perform with plantar fasciitis.
Plantar Fasciitis is essentially an inflammation in the ligament where the ligament attaches to the Calcaneus. This is generally caused by micro traumas in the plantar fascia or the plantar fascia being tight. This is why a lot of treatments for Plantar Fasciitis focus around stretching or providing shock absorption for the Calcaneus. A lot of times plantar fascia attacks active people and all of a sudden these people are unable to participate in activities. Maybe you are trying to lose weight, you regularly work out, well Plantar Fasciitis can definitely effect that. So what are some actives and exercises you can do with Plantar Fasciitis?
Swimming. It seems rather obvious after you think about it. Swimming is an activity that put zero stress on your heel. The aggravating factors of Plantar Fasciitis are not present as the heel never touches the ground causing micro trauma. This is one of the reasons most people with arthritis swim. Swimming reduces stress on ligaments and joints.
Cycling. Again Cycling or an exercise bike is an activity that also reduces stress on the Plantar Fascia. Remember, with cycling there is no heel strike which is what causes a great deal of stress on the Plantar Fascia and the pain associated with plantar Fasciitis.
Upper Body Workouts. It seems obvious to most people but if you are not exercising your feet then you are not stressing your plantar fascia. Lift weights, curls, sit ups… there are all sorts of works outs that will not aggravate the Plantar Fascia.
Do not fret, however. 95% of cases of Plantar Fasciitis are going to clear up within two to three months, so most of these work out changes only have to be temporary.