Can Reflexology Help Plantar Fasciitis?
Those who suffer from plantar fasciitis will do just about anything to relieve the pain associated with this condition, including trying reflexology.
The number of patients calling with the above question has skyrocketed and it appears that word is getting out that reflexology does indeed help plantar fascia issues.
Another question is can tight calves cause plantar fasciitis?
Tight calf muscles can also lead to heel and foot pain due to plantar fasciitis and need attention during reflexology session. Your plantar fascia is a band of taut tissue that stretches across the soles of your feet including achilles. If this tissue becomes stressed and inflamed, it can lead to the searing pain that’s the hallmark of plantar fasciitis.
If condition is ignored, Plantar inflammation makes those first few steps in the morning miserable and excruciating. And when the feet hurt so does the whole body.
So you’re told to wear shoes (tight ones at that) to protect the feet. And the more you protect your feet the more brittle the fascia becomes. Maddening!
You try Epsom salts bath. Nothing. You try cortisone shots. Nothing. You try laser therapy. Nothing. And the list goes on.
Then someone points you to someone who performs reflexology, and you wonder ‘how that could possibly help’?
It helps by lateral deviation of both fibrous and soft tissues by completing stretching movements that go east, west, northwest, northeast, southwest and southeast. They can also thumb-roll from superficial (skin level) to deep tissue.
Those purposeful strokes bring life back into the connective tissue of the feet. And when the fascia becomes fluid again the pain receptors quit screaming.
So how long does it take for reflexology to help some with plantar fasciitis?
It depends on how long the patient has had the condition. Because the longer they have had the dysfunction, the more painful the treatment is in the beginning.
And for some, the last thing they want is someone pressing hard on those sore puppies.
So we have to use softer pressure in the beginning and increase pressure through the subsequent visits. Three to five visits seems to reveal if reflexology will curb the patient’s plantar fasciitis.
