Can Plantar Fasciitis Cause Hip Pain?

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Can plantar fasciitis cause hip pain as well? Unfortunately yes, and it can even affect your posture! Learn more about how to avoid common problems associated with plantar fasciitis.

Is it possible that plantar fasciitis can result in hip pain? Many people complain that they are not able to walk for an extended period. This doesn’t mean that feet alone have some effects.

It also affects the thighs, lower legs, and hips. If there is a change in some part of the leg, it may even affect the posture and walking of the person.

But do you know what Plantar Fasciitis is? PF is nothing but an inflammation of a thick tissue band that will connect the heel bones to the toes, and also it runs across the bottom of the foot. Its effects are seen in the runners, and orthopedic conditions are diagnosed. 

One can experience sharp pain in the morning, which will reduce after walking. It can be found at the toes, foot’s midpart, and heel bone. Micro injuries are typical that is because of wear and tear. 

There are chances that symptoms may persist, and we can find some factors for its occurrence.

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Plantar Fasciitis- Risk Factors

prevalence of PF is common in 45-64-year-old people. The number of cases in females is more when compared to males. Active men and women of this age regularly develop it, especially if they go for prolonged walking or is a runner. Nature of work also is a significant factor of this: 

Some studies state that flat fee people t develop plantar fasciitis, and it remains a question whether it is correct or not. If a person is obese, has a high BMI, or is obese, then there are chances that you may develop PF. Body mass increase can result in mechanical properties changes of PF and HP and PF. 

PF and Hip Pain 

There are chances that PF may result in pain in the hip, and it may affect walking and posture.

This can be because of compensation of the areas involved; for example, if a part of one leg has been compromised, then there is a chance of compensatory positions to occur, resulting in the overactivity of the muscles because of the counterparts tightness.

As a part of compensation, there is a scope that the foot that is affected is pronated which faces outward as a result of the pain on the heels. 

Whereas you can see the inward rotation of the tibial area, giving a knocked look of the knees, i.e., valgus knees. 

You can see the inward rotation of the thigh bones, and the pelvis can be seen curved right to back, i.e., anterior pelvic tilt. 

You will appear as if you are leaning forward. It is only not about leg alignment, and muscles are affected along with it.

To maintain the foot’s alignment, you can see an overactivity in the calf muscles because of fascia’s inflammation. It will result in the prevention of areas of dorsiflexion so you can see the pronated foot. If this is not compensated, you can see the tightness of that area. As a result of knocked knees, TFL can also occur. Inner thighs will have less movement as a result.

It is said that tight inner thighs are commonly seen in runners, so they experience an imbalance of muscle activity.

So, it is clear that flexed hips result from quadriceps overactivity, leading to gluteal area weakness and hamstrings tightening.Anterior pelvic tilt may result in pain in the hip bones. 

Anterior pelvic tilt talks about the movement of the trunk when standing up. As time increases, this improper leg alignment will weaken the gluteus minimus and medius, affecting your walking and posture. You may also face hip bursitis or snapping hip syndrome.

 

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Plantar Fasciitis- Diagnosis

If a person is experiencing pain on the heel bone behind the feet or at the toes can go for tests. Physician permission can be taken about any problems there are in that area.

MRI

MRI is a diagnostic tool that will help in detecting plantar fascia disorder. It will also see any musculoskeletal or orthopedic problems.

You can find the thickening of the plantar fascia at the calcaneal area because of inflammation at that area when an MRI  is done.  

X-Ray

One should carry out a physical examination or find the clinical history before conducting plain radiography. 

The thickness of the PF  can be measured accurately with the help of ankle and foot lateral plain radiographs. You can use this to detect bony abnormalities, heel spurs, or any fracture in that area. 

Ultrasound

MSK ultrasounds are used by some physicians to detect fascial, muscle, or ligament changes.

Complete or partial interruption of the PF can be identified in the Sonographic findings of PFs rupture; this hypoechoic tissue at the rupture site is related to inflammation and local bleeding. 

 

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What Can We Do About This? 

To treat Plantar fasciitis and other conditions will take involved 6-12 months to get treated. There are chances that it can get treated in a short period. 

A physician will refer you to the medical interventions, including doing pain relief remedies and taking pain medications at home. Go for physical therapy if you are unable to do activities at home. 

According to NHS, a physician may recommend the below suggestions:

Rest the foot on the stool by raising it: 

If you are a runner or you are a regular walker, you have to rest. When you raise the foot on the stool or talk about the elevated foot, you can experience relief from inflammation of the fascia. These relief methods will help in offloading the feet or the heel from the body weight.

Put a frozen peas bag or ice pack in a towel and place it on the painful area. 

Repeat this every three hours for twenty minutes; an ice pack can be applied whenever you take a rest or whenever your foot is raised. You can also use this when pain arises, and when the area becomes numb, you can remove it. This cold therapy will help in giving relief from pain. 

Wear comfortable shoes which come with a low heel and a soft sole  

If you do not know what these are, the podiatrist will help you with what are the qualifications for footwear. To make it simple for you, a soft sole and low heel will help relieve the bony areas of toes, but to make it simple, a low heel and soft sole can relieve attached bony areas of toes and decrease the pain in the foot.

A sole and heel pad can be added for the sake of weight-bearing of the calcaneal area. You can read these best shoes for older runners and seniors to know more. 

To realign, the thigh and lower leg pronation of the foot should be corrected. 

Many studies say that Pf’s can be treated by using corticosteroids and orthotics injections

Prefabricated, the customized orthotic will improve the pain in three months will less risk.

Taking Medications

Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) play a significant role in reducing the inflammation and pain and of the PF. The doctor prescribes medicines for weeks.

If the pain doesn’t come down after using NSAIDs, you will have to start taking steroids. These injections are temporary for only six months.

Exercise and Physical Therapy 

When rest, pain medications, and home remedies do not work, then Physical therapy is recommended by the doctors to the patients. It will work when the patient is not doing daily activities. 

According to a physical therapist, those who undergo physical therapy see significant changes to their pain and do their work again. 

If there is an issue with movements, then exercises are to be done. 

Rolling the foot’s arch is one of the common exercises. This is recommended, especially when the person will get up from the bed to stand. It will help in easing the tension of that area, releasing any nodules, and stretching. 

Why do you think this is relevant? Affectation of the back, hips, thighs and lower legs is necessary to realign legs, posture and walking. You can see significant changes in the alignment of the leg when the foot’s pronation from PF takes place. To prevent future problems consulting a physical therapist will help. Hip strengthening is essential for PF, according to some studies. To address plantar fasciitis, along with deformity of high-arch, doctors will address the weakness of muscle in hip abductor, whereas other therapists will work on hip strengthening exercises.

Manual therapy will help in addressing the hip abductor muscles better. This includes passive joint manipulation of the foot and ankle. 

(using Mulligan and Maitland mobilization techniques). This has given significant improvements in the patients.

Stretching exercises will help in relieving the pain and promoting calves’ flexibility. Ability to stretch the tight muscles while strengthening can support in maintaining optimal tolerance. These are exercises which you can do from the Healthline. 

Parting Words
A timely response to plantar fasciitis can help prevent all sorts of pain caused by it. Visit a doctor today if you are suffering from constant hip pain.

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