Plantar Fasciitis versus Achilles Tendonitis

 

 

 

Plantar Fasciitis and Achilles Tendonitis

Plantar fasciitis and Achilles Tendonitis both the same contact point of pain, which is the heel bond.  Plantar fasciitis involved the fascia that extents from the bottom of the foot through the fascia of the foot and continues to the toes.   Achilles Tendonitis pain is sensed in the bottom of the leg at the connection of the heel.  With Achilles tendonitis the pain begins in the morning as a stiffness of the muscle, and  the pain becomes more prominent during the day, but with  plantar fasciitis the pain is experienced upon the first few steps of the day and usually is predominant in one foot.  Both injuries may be the result of running long distances.  Symptoms in plantar fascinates may develop gradually but Achilles tendonitis is the effect of training, which includes running, jumping, and climbing.  Pain can subside in both types of afflictions after warming up the foot and gradual loss of pain decreases during the day.  Wearing improper shoes can result in both types of foot agony. 

The symptoms of both conditions can be the result of overuse, improper foot gear, age, or the type of arch in the foot.  Plantar fasciitis may have an onset because of the weight is dispersed on the foot.  A consequence or development of low back pain, knee, and hip may be the product of not caring for plantar fasciitis. Repetitive, minor impact, and incorrect postures while performing tasks such as gardening, raking, shoveling may cause tendinitis.  Repeated abuse on the Achilles tendonitis could cause tears or breakage in the Achilles tendon often leading to surgery for repair.

To avoid injuries sustained by Achilles tendonitis start slow in training and if the Achilles tendon becomes painful rest, ice, compress, and elevate.  Take an Epsom salts soak, placing one cup of Epsom salts in warm water.  Plantar fasciitis warrants a different route for recovery.  Stretching the fascia bands by rolling the toes over a towel will help increase the tightness in the fascia.  Also, an Epsom salts bath is encourages.  Purchasing a night splint will help control the contraction of the foot while sleeping.  Freezing a water bottle and rolling on the arch of the foot to stretch the fascia is another way of reducing the pain of Plantar Fasciitis.

Of course the obvious is to get a massage that incorporates some type of foot massage.  Loosening the fascia and working the muscles surrounding the Achilles tendon, and  the attachment will relieve the pain associated with both afflictions.

Bibliography

Tendinitis. (2013, June 27). Retrieved from Web Md: http://www.webmd.com/fitness-exercise/arthitis-tendonitis

Staff, M. c. (2013, June 27). Achilles tendinitis. Retrieved from Mayo clinic: http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/achilles-tendinitis/ds00737/method=print

staff, M. c. (2013, June 27). Plantar fasciitis. Retrieved from Mayo Clinic: http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/plantar-fasciitis/DS00508/Method=print &Dsection

Click here for more information on how BFST® Treatments work

Medical Function - ColdCure^® Wrap

Cold compression wraps are standard medical products for the treatment of pain and inflammation. Cold and compression applied to an injured joint immediately reduces the risk of further damage from excessive swelling. This swelling can be in the muscles, ligaments, tendons, or tendon sheaths within the ankle. Doctors and Therapists know that controlling swelling is a fundamental part of reducing long term permanent damage as a result of a soft tissue injury.

The King Brand ColdCure^® Achilles Wrap is a medical grade cold compression wrap designed for use in hospitals and injury therapy clinics. Increasingly patients are purchasing their own units for use at home and healing even faster as a result. The ColdCure^® wrap exceeds all government and health agency regulatory requirements for cold therapy specifically for use in soft tissue injuries.

Improving on the RICE standard of injury care, ColdCure^® wraps are specifically designed to operate at refrigeration (not freezer) temperatures. This eliminates the potential of skin damage during treatment associated with all freezer wraps. This improved standard is called RCCE^® (Rest, Cold, Compression, Elevation). RCCE^® allows for the wraps to be applied to the patient and used while not attended by a physician or clinician. This is very important given the likelihood of skin damage from alternative devices which use cold packs charged in a freezer particularly when used on the Achilles / ankle.

The over-sized cold packs in all ColdCure^® Achilles wraps contain specially formulated gel with more cooling power per lb than standard wraps. This allows for longer treatment durations without having to recharge the wrap or switch cold packs. The longer treatment times and more cold power means more pain relief, better control of swelling and less handling of the injured area. These all result in a better treatment. Each ColdCure^® wrap comes with 3 large cold packs allowing for immediate re-use in clinical settings or the ability for extended treatment durations in the patient's home.

Ankle ColdCure® Wrap

$49.95

Like the BFST^® Devices, ColdCure^® Achilles wraps are made from flexible, stretchable neoprene covered in soft, plush cloth. The gel pack is specifically designed for the shape of the ankle so that the Achilles is properly targeted. We do not use one common gel pack in all our wraps - the ankle and the bottom of the foot and the knee and the shoulder are all shaped very differently and each one deserves a custom designed pack if it's going to work the best. No other wrap in the world has specifically designed cold packs for each and every part of the body. The wrap molds the cold pack around the back of the ankle, up and down the Achilles, to ensure that there is an even distribution of cooling power and compression over the entire injured area. This has in every way been designed to be 100% an Achilles therapy product.

The wraps use RigiGel^® technology so that the gel does not flow away from the injured area when pressure is applied. The gel stays in place even under pressure. Yet it is still soft and molds to the body. ColdCure^® wraps are unique and of a higher quality and performance than any other wrap available. Again, like the BFST^® device, the ColdCure^® wrap is opened and closed using attached Velcro^® straps that guarantee a perfect fit. The wrap and unwrap design allows for easily application around a tender, injured, ankle without having to slip into or out of a 'boot or sock like' device.

Click here for more information on how ColdCure^® Treatments work

Understanding Pain

Understanding Pain

By Karen Benford Smith

Pain can be the most debilitating trauma to the body.  The dictionary defines the word pain as localized physical suffering associated with a bodily disorder as a disease or injury.  Problems arising in the body are often misdiagnosed because the individual is unfamiliar with the different types of pain classification.  Pain is determined by the kind of impairment that is produced. Physician’s group pain by tissue damage (nociceptive pain) and nerve damage (neuropathic pain). An additional type of pain is psychogenic pain commonly brought on by fear, depression, stress, or anxiety.

Further classification of pain can relate to the area that is aching such as back pain or chest pain.

Acute pain is often caused by damage to the tissues. Body tissues that sustain tissue damage as the result of a cut or broken bone.  Cancer is another way acute pain can be felt in the body.

When an athlete suffers a sports injury such as a twisted ankle or Achilles tendonitis, acute pain is the result outcome.  Application of the Rest, Ice, Compress, and Elevate is often advised to relieve the acute pain caused by injury.  Achilles tendonitis may be the result of overuse, wrong tennis shoes, over pronation, increasing the running distance, or wear and tear on the tendons.  In any case pain can be unbearable, which leads to intensified anguish from the thinking about the pain, and the outcome is psychological pain.

Chronic pain is a continuous pain that does not comply with medical treatment. This type of pain often occurs with breakthrough pain... Breakthrough pain is pain that continues even if medication is being used for the treatment, causing episodes of relief but soon after the pain returns.  Amazingly 70% of chronic pain patients have breakthrough pain. Often the explanation is the medication was not taking in accordance with the label on the bottle, as the patient forgot to continue the dosage to make the medication effective. 

Everyone tolerates pain differently.  What may be tolerable to this individual may be excruciating pain to the next.  Understanding the classification of pain may encourage individuals to seek massage for their affliction. The body is an amazing tool that takes time and self-care to relieve an injury.  Thirteen weeks for a chronic injury is the amount of time that the body heals itself. If the body does not repair itself in 13 weeks then the individual should seek medical advice. 

Often a change in diet or starting a stretching regime can encourage pain to leave the body.  Managing pain is a slow and patient process, something that is hard for individuals to comprehend.  Eating properly, drinking plenty of water, and placing 3 cups Epsom salts in a bath and soaking is often the minimal requirements to reduce pain.

(Pain Management Health Center, 2013)

Pain Management Health Center. (2013, June 25). Retrieved from Web MD: www.webmd.com/pain-management/guide/pain-types-and calssifications

Health Benefits of Massage from LoneDove

Health Benefits

At Lone Dove the belief is massage therapy facilitates growth, increases attentiveness and learning while elevating pain. Immune functions are improved and massage also assisted in overcoming additions (like smoking). Blood pressure may be lowered; reduction of anxiety and hostility may be diminished in many cases. Pain and range of motion may be improved in persons with low back pain. Massage therapy had also demonstrated the ability to reduce migraine headaches.
Each person has their own vital healing energy and massage can aid in the ability of ones body to heal itself. This inner energy balance is key to healthy living and may be the most important change one experiences through a therapeutic massage.