Plantar Fasciitis

Plantar literally means 'bottom of foot', fascia means 'connective tissue' and itis means 'inflammation'. Plantar fasciitis is one of the most common causes of foot and heel pain; it affects more than 10% of the US population. It is considered a repetitive stress condition where your fascia experiences wear and tear mostly at the point where it attaches to your heel bone (the weakest part). Every time your foot strikes the ground your plantar fascia is stretched, when your heel lifts off the ground your plantar fascia experiences tension. Forces in your foot strike can reach 2-3 times your body weight depending on if you are standing, walking, running or jumping. This extra tension can result in overstretching, inflammation and/or micro-tearing of the fascia at your heel, which your body finds difficult to repair itself. Although it is referred to as an inflammatory condition, plantar fasciitis can happen with or without inflammation. It generally occurs in one foot, however in 1/3 of cases it will develop in both feet. It most frequently affects athletes, people who are on their feet all day and those over 40 years of age (it is experienced twice as often in women than men in this age group).

Plantar fasciitis can be a stand alone condition or it can be related to an underlying disease or other ailment. Many people refer to plantar fasciitis and heel spurs as one in the same. Although these are similar and often occur in conjunction with each other, they are not same. Heel spurs (calcium deposits in soft tissues in and around the bone) can actually be caused by plantar fasciitis; 50% of people with plantar fasciitis have heel spurs.

In any case, plantar fasciitis can affect your ability to do your usual work, hobbies and/or sports activities. It also can lead to changes in the way you walk, and if not addressed, can lead to knee, hip and low back injuries. Plantar fasciitis can cause scar tissue, as well as enlargement or swelling of the vessels that carry fluids through your bone marrow, which can complicate the healing of an injured fascia. It is considered a self-limited condition, which means that by making small alterations in your lifestyle and regular routines you can often control the condition.

Alternate names and/or associated conditions:

Plantar fasciosis, jogger's heel, tennis heel, policeman's heel, calcaneal enthesopathy pain, gonorrhea heel, calcaneal spur syndrome, heel spur syndrome, plantar fascial rupture, calcaneal fracture, atrophy of heel fat pad, tibial nerve entrapment, gout

Therapeutic Products

Blood Flow Stimulation Therapy

You can help your body repair your plantar fasciitis, heel spur, arch pain or tendon injury by boosting the natural healing process using an Inferno Wrap™. The Inferno Wrap's patented design delivers the most effective Blood Flow Stimulation Therapy you can find. By stimulating the flow of blood to your foot you are increasing the amount of healing oxygen and nutrients to the area. Unfortunately, we need to rest in order to heal and this decreases the blood flow throughout our bodies. Since you can't work your foot without danger of further injury, you need to stimulate the blood flow another way. Our innovative Inferno Wrap™ gives you the best Blood Flow Stimulation Therapy available. The Inferno Wrap™ creates energy waves that stimulate blood flow while you rest by penetrating through the outer layers of your foot. The energy waves reach deep into your foot reducing your pain as they heal the inner tissue.

The Inferno Wrap™ provides effective, non-invasive, non-addictive pain relief with no side effects. By treating your heel spur or plantar fascia in the morning before stepping out of bed, you will warm the area and prepare it for use during the day with less risk on re-injury. When your injury has healed somewhat and it comes time for more aggressive rehabilitation, stretching and activity, Blood Flow Stimultation Therapy warms the tissues in the injured area which increases range of motion and allows for a safer stretch with less risk of reinjury.

Therapeutic Ultrasound

Ultrasound Therapy is also a great tool for pain prevention of heel spurs, plantar fasciitis and tendon injuries, and having a therapeutic ultrasound device at home can be a powerful and convenient treatment tool. If you are suffering from a heel spur or have an injured plantar fascia or are recovering from a tendon injury, using ultrasound on a regular basis before your activity or throughout the day will help relax the area, diminish pain and inflammation, soften scar tissue and contribute greatly to the healing of your injury.

Therapeutic Ultrasound warms and massages your soft tissue giving you three primary benefits. First, it increases blood flow in the treated area which speeds your body's natural healing process. Second, it reduces swelling and edema which are the main sources of pain. Third, ultrasound softens existing scar tissue and minimizes the build up of new scar tissue resulting in reduced pain while healing and greater flexibility once healing is complete.

Eucalyptus...
It's in our Gel!

Ultrasound can also be used to administer therapeutic medicines into the body. This is a process known as phonophoresis. Ultrasound with Phonophoresis is rapidly becoming more popular than Ultrasound Therapy alone.

Peppermint...
It's in our gel too!

Our MendMeShop Lavender Infusion Gel is the only topical therapeutic gel that is also a Phonophoretic Ultrasound Gel. It is made with natural medical ingredients including eucalyptus, peppermint, Bulgarian lavender and menthol. These effective ingredients have anesthetic, anti-inflammatory, analgesic, decongestant, and circulatory stimulant properties. When applied topically and massaged into the skin, MendMeShop Lavender Infusion Gel relieves pain and speeds healing without any side-effects.

Freezie Wrap™ Cold Compression Therapy

Our cold compression wraps work by interrupting and slowing nerve and cell function in your foot. Once blood vessels are damaged they can no longer carry oxygenated blood to the damaged tissue and therefore cells begin to break-down. The deep cold provided by our cold compression wraps slows cell function thereby reducing cellular break-down. Furthermore, because the cold wraps serve to numb the nerves, the wraps also reduce pain!

With the non-migrating gel that holds the cold for your cold therapy, our Freezie Wraps are the best. We have noticed over time that our customers are so fond of our cold wraps that they are frequently coming back and ordering a second one - this way they can cool one while wearing the other. The wraps are becoming very popular with baseball and soccer trainers, and the wraps can be conveniently stored in a cooler for quick application on the field when needed.

Always allow the injured area to return to normal body temperature between hot and cold treatments by waiting 60-90 minutes before applying a different therapy.