Plantar fasciitis is considered the most frequent musculoskeletal disorder observed by foot doctors. This is an inflammation and degeneration of the plantar fascia which is a long and strong ligament that spans across the mid-foot (arch) of the foot. The classic indications are discomfort underneath the heel and more intense pain on standing up from rest, mainly in the early morning following a night’s rest. Any situation that increases the strain on the arch of the foot is most likely to overload the plantar fascia. This can include being overweight, getting active, being on your feet for hours on end and dysfunctional issues that affect the alignment of the foot. There are many different remedies that can be recommended for this problem, with the most beneficial ones being the ones that lessen the weight put on the plantar fascia.

We have seen a lot of interest on the utilization of foam rollers to manage musculoskeletal disorders recently, along with the question gets asked often as to if we incorporate the use of a foam roller for plantar fasciitis?

It's quite common to see suggestions given to roll the foot backwards and forwards across a tennis ball on the ground and that this will help the plantar fasciitis. This can have a similar impact to what a foam roller will have. No research has shown that this will be useful, even though plenty of people make use of the roller. That being said, there is certainly a lot of physicians that would recommend against using it. It is not necessarily harmful, however they feel it just will not do a lot of good as opposed to anything else that can be used and are most likely more beneficial. One matter to consider is that whenever we hurt ourselves, rubbing the spot of the soreness invariably generally seems to feel much better. That does not mean the rubbing in fact repairs the condition, it simply makes it feel somewhat improved. This is perhaps why a lot of health care professionals are sceptical with regards to suggesting self-massage or foam rolling for the plantar fasciitis.

Some new research has been lately published for the using a foam roller for plantar fasciitis. It was a randomized controlled study looking at the use of a foam roller to stretching. Generally in clinical practice it is not a matter of selecting to utilize one solution or another similar to this medical study. Numerous treatment methods are often used together in combination, and so the clinical trial is almost unnatural. That being said, the trial did show that each worked similarly or the foam roller may be a slightly bit superior, so using the foam roller to massage the arch section of the feet in those with this condition certainly does help.

Based on the above in all probability it may be beneficial to make use of something similar to the foam roller. There are particular rollers, such as the Pediroller, which have been intended to roll on the mid-foot (arch) of the foot. They may not correct this condition, but based on the anecdotes and this one study, it should definitely make it feel better at least. This is ample reason to give it a try.