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Custom Heel Pain Night Splints in Philadelphia
Question:
I did find an excellent controlled study in the journal "Foot & Ankle" (January 1998), written by West Virginia University orthopods. The title is "Effective treatmemt of chronic plantar fasciitis with dorsi flexion night splints." The splints they use, custom built ones costing $200, sound like just what I need. After a month (assuming you are able to sleep with it on, as most people can), results are impressive. I gather that there are relatively few medical practices building such splints
Actually this is a pretty common treatment now. But watch out – my doc made my splints dorsiflex my feet as far as they could possibly go. Within a week after I started wearing them I developed achilles tendinitis, which has been with me for over two years. — Sr. Information Processing Consultant University of Wisconsin Anesthesiology Dept.
Response:
FWIW: Have had most nagging injuries including achilles and pl fascia. What worked for me was STATIC CALF AND FOOT STRETCHING as indicated in those reference sections previously introduced. Fairly common: 1. Knee extended, as in wall pushups. 2. Knee flexed Less common but just as valuable: 3. Knee bent and toes flexed simultaneously, possible by bracing foot at 45 degrees, with toes on forward wall and heel on floor flexing knee forward substantially, but gently. (no need for the $25 rehab tool used by PT’s, but if you have one, great.) Even less common and not generally appreciated: 4. Knees extended (also flexed, individually) in downward dog yoga pose with substantial simultaneous bend at waist. Ask any yoga expert for this and others. Be VERY cautious at first until you know your limits. This affects calf/achilles/fascia in ways they others do not. Ref. Iyengar Yoga, Hatha Yoga texts, from the library, store or bookshelf. Adho Mukha Svanasana on Page No. 90 of "Yoga, the Iyengar Way, the New Definitive Illustrated Guide," by Mehta et al, Knopf, 1994, $20. Most beginners do not learn this well in the first session, so getting help makes a lot of sense. (Now, at risk of repeating what you have been told, you will benefit by stretching hamstrings, glutei, hips, etc., as well since they are all connected, etc., etc.) 5. Squatting on heels if possible, or toes if not. A yoga stretch and balance, once pain free, kneeling and sitting back on your heels two ways. One with foot extended/pointed back. The other, with feet tucked under and on the toes. Then raise knees and balance on toes, w. torso erect, into a tiptoe squat. See Poses, numbers 74 to 77, pages 202 to 204, of "The Complete Yoga Book," by James Hewitt, Rider Publishers, London, 1991, 10.99 Pounds in UK. I do these routinely now as prevention and have had no problems for 20 years. You can also use PNF discussed by a number of the web sites, the ever present Ozzie Gee, etc., to further extend the stretches. Also, high rep sets for the calves to warm them up and strengthen them, since I have had many minor calf tears. Endurance cycling, although it tightens the calves, does wonders for recovery in the lower leg. Esp. spinning and high pedal rpm and low torque. – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – I did find an excellent controlled study in the journal "Foot & Ankle" (January 1998), written by West Virginia University orthopods. The title is "Effective treatmemt of chronic plantar fasciitis with dorsi flexion night splints." The splints they use, custom built ones costing $200, sound like just what I need. After a month (assuming you are able to sleep with it on, as most people can), results are impressive. I gather that there are relatively few medical practices building such splints Actually this is a pretty common treatment now. But watch out – my doc made my splints dorsiflex my feet as far as they could possibly go. Within a week after I started wearing them I developed achilles tendinitis, which has been with me for over two years. — Sr. Information Processing Consultant University of Wisconsin Anesthesiology Dept.
Response:
I’ve been suffering from a tender left heel for about four months and my family doctor’s ideas (over the counter meds, heel pads, stretching) don’t seem to be doing the trick. This is the second bout of plantar fasciitis that I have had in the last five years (last one went on for about 10 months) and I would love to find a definitive treatment. Checking in a nearby medical school library, it seems that, unless I really missed something big, which I do not think I did, most heel pain treatments are not based on controlled experimentation. The podiatrists are still being taught that heel spurs are a common cause, which is, at best, a classic unscientific conflation of cause with correlation. Plus, I gather that podiatrists often prescribe expensive shoe orthotics in the absence of careful controlled experimentation proving the expensive orthotics to be better than over the counter. I did find an excellent controlled study in the journal "Foot & Ankle" (January 1998), written by West Virginia University orthopods. The title is "Effective treatmemt of chronic plantar fasciitis with dorsi flexion night splints." The splints they use, custom built ones costing $200, sound like just what I need. After a month (assuming you are able to sleep with it on, as most people can), results are impressive. I gather that there are relatively few medical practices building such splints, but that there are others beyond that in West Virginia. By any chance, does anyone know of any such practices in the Philadelphia Pennsylvania vicinity? Also, has anyone tried the Bird & Cronin Nite Lite Plantar Fasciitis Splint? This product, which costs around $65 and comes in three sizes, seems to be similar to the West Virginia splint except is not custom built. I’m not a runner, but post here because it is the only newsgroup which commonly discusses heel pain. Thanks for all responses and ideas. Steve Eisenberg Wynnewood, Pennsylvania U.S.A.
Response:
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