Facebook Live – 10th September 2019.

Does plantar fasciitis heal by itself?
Unless your extremely lucky, then more often that not it will persist. The reason is primarily due to the fact there’s normally a cause which contributes to the onset of the condition. These causes can consist of footwear, foot function, calf muscle tightness and increase in load. If a cause isn’t addressed than the likelihood of plantar fascia healing is quite minimal.

Facebook Live 3rd September 2019

Do you need an x- ray to diagnose your plantar heel pain

There are many causes of plantar heel pain. The most common, is what we see  a lot of in the clinic and that is called plantar fasciitis.With this condition an X- ray will show any bone pathology. It may highlight the presence of a bone spur, however as we have previously discussed this is not the cause of the pain. If you are looking for a diagnosis an ultrasound will provide an image for soft tissue

Facebook Live 27 August 2019

A question we frequently get asked is “will my heel spur dissolve with treatment?”

The short answer is no, it will not dissolve with treatment that we conduct at the clinic. The treatment that we complete is to reduce pain and symptoms that are being experienced at the origin of the plantar fascia that is located a few mm in front of the heel spur. The heel spur is a bone so the way to remove it would be by surgical method. We generally would not recommend

Facebook Live 20th August 2019

Does strapping help your heel pain?

Strapping is an excellent short term method of reducing pain. You do not want it on your foot all day every day as it can become uncomfortable and cause irritation. It can be beneficial when used in conjunction with other treatment, or if done for a training, race or game.

The goal of our strapping is to reduce the stretch of the plantar fascia which is a common cause of heel pain, and can also be used to prevent your feet from

Facebook Live 13th August 2019

There are 2 types of ultrasound. The first is diagnostic ultrasound and the second is therapeutic ultrasound.  Diagnostic ultrasound involves visually seeing soft tissue in order to determine a diagnosis.
So what are our thoughts on therapeutic ultrasound?
Firstly therapeutic ultrasound is a different treatment to shock wave therapy that is offered at our clinic
Therapeutic ultrasound is meant to increase blood flow to areas of soft tissue, thus promoting healing through these areas, soften scar tissue and reduce swelling. Unfortunately There is minimal evidence supporting this treatment, and when

Facebook Live 7th August 2019

What is that lump at the back of your heel?

The lump at the back of your heel is called a haglund’s deformity. Haglunds deformity is an abnormal bone growth at the back of the heel. When this abnormal bone rubs against the back of tight fitting footwear it often becomes irritated and causes inflammation to the soft tissues at the back of the heel. 
The soft tissues which usually become affected are the Achilles’ tendon or bursa (a bursa acts as a cushioning between the Achilles’ tendon

Facebook Live 30th July 2019

There has been a lot of research has been done investigating the use of cortisone injections and using injections of saline or saltwater as a comparison. Here a few studies that we have found investigating it.

One study split the participants into 2 groups, one receiving cortisone and the other saline. They monitored the participants and 4, 8 and 12 weeks and what they found was at 4 weeks the cortisone group had a significant reduction in their pain when compared to the saline group. However in

Facebook Live 25th July 2019

 Having flat feet can get you disqualified from the military:In the past, having flat feet would have you disqualified from the military. The reason being is, flat feet predisposed you to alot of lower limb issues because the foot would roll in more than it should. People would be more susceptible of getting heel pain, achilles issues, bunions and knee issues as well.

One thing you can do on your own is purchase a supportive footwear that has a rigid heel counter, to lock the heel in

Facebook Live 16th July 2019

Will rolling your foot on a drink bottle or massage ball get rid of heel pain? The answer is a yes and no.
An analogy our Exercise physiologist Josh likes to use is if you picture a dam leaking.
If we’re only patching up the leaks, but there’s still issues elsewhere, no matter how many times we patch up those leaks it’ll always come back.
That’s what rolling the drink bottle will do, it will help loosen out the structures underneath the foot and promote more blood flow to

Facebook Live 16th July 2019