Recently a woman came in to see me who was suffering from severe plantar fasciitis pain, her arch hurt so much she could barely walk. She’d been to several specialists and has so far bought three pair of orthotics (at $400 each!). Plantar fasciitis is getting to be a commonplace condition in my office. I love working with athletes, but I’m finding this isn’t only a problem for athletes.
Because of driving a car for long distances her right foot was worse then her left, which makes sense since the muscles that enable you to press down on the gas and brake pedals, are the same ones that are the cause of pain in the arch of the foot.
The two muscles are the tibialis anterior and the peroneals. The tibialis anterior runs along the entire length of the shin bone and then the tendon inserts onto the first metatarsal (the long bone that is on the inside of your arch and goes up to your big toe), while the peroneals run along the entire outside of your lower leg, goes behind your ankle, and the tendon inserts on the fifth metatarsal (the bone on the outside of your foot) and also on the first metatarsal at the same point as the insertion of your tibialis anterior. This is important to visualize so you can see how the tendons pulling on the bones will put pressure your arch and cause the arch muscles to be strained — causing pain in the bottom of your foot.
Wishing you well,
Julie
P.S. You can read about the logic of the body and why repetitive strain injuries to muscles can cause so much pain by going to https://julstromethod.com