DOI: 10.36347/sjams.2014.v02i06.035

Pages: 3015-3019

Plantar fasciitis pain is a commonly occurring foot complaint. Stretching is frequently utilized as a treatment. This study aimed to assess the effectiveness of stretching on pain in people with plantar fasciitis. Patients (n=36) diagnosed as having plantar fasciitis were included in our study at our out-patient department and they were advised to stretch the calf muscle for at least 5 minutes over a given wooden ridge. Their pain before and after calf stretching exercises was recorded on pain visual analog scale and analyzed. According to visual analog scale (VAS) which ranges from zero (NO PAIN) to 100 (WORST POSSIBLE PAIN), the average baseline pain score on VAS was 75.58 and all patients had significant reduction in pain score (average 42.46) which was statistically significant (p< 0.05). There is some evidence that plantar fascia stretching may be more effective in the treatment of plantar fasciitis in the short-term and thus improving foot functional activity on the long-term. Appropriately powered randomized controlled trials, utilizing validated outcome measures, blinded assessors and long-term follow up are needed to assess the efficacy of stretching.