Yes, it could be!

Did you know that the nerves from the very low back are the nerves that innervate the gluteal muscles, hamstring muscles, and calf muscles? And nerve dysfunction leads to muscle dysfunction, and that could be the source of your heel pain!

Imagine taking a 150 pound ball peen hammer and lightly tapping your head with it for 2 hours straight. Your head would hurt, correct? Yes. It would get inflamed and painful. What if you did that every day for 6 months? That’s what you’re doing to your heel bone when you’re walking. Why does this not normally cause heel pain? Because your body was made with a specific pattern with which to walk and run. This pattern, if outside a tolerable chemical and physical limit will result in tissue damage and pain.

One cause of plantar fascia tissues going outside of physical and chemical limits is low back nerve impingement. When the nerves in the low back get pinched or “unhappy”, then the muscles that they feed will also be “unhappy”. They will no longer function as they are designed to function.

When this happens the calf muscles will have to work harder than they are designed to work. Additionally, the calf muscles will have to work harder under worse conditions because the nerves of the low back cannot properly innervate the calf muscles when they are pinched.

One result of this nerve impingement can be plantar fasciitis heel pain. This kind of plantar fasciitis heel pain is difficult to fix. However, if given the right exercises and consistency, you’ll be able to stabilize your low back to prevent further nerve impingement.

This will allow your hamstring and gluteal muscles to function as they are designed to decrease the requirements on the calf muscle, and the calf muscles will no longer have to work without proper innervation.

Voila! No more heel pain! 

If you have been dealing with plantar fasciitis heel pain there is hope! If you would like to learn more, or if you have questions please reach out to us here.

Get scheduled today so you can finally have relief!

Soli Deo Gloria

Todd Rundell

P.S.

At Renewal Physical Therapy we want to give our patients the tools to take care of their body so they can spend less on medical professionals and more on the rest of their lives. The first step in this process is making sure our patients are well educated. We are happy to answer your questions or to send you more material to help you better understand your condition. Just reach out to us!

Or even give us a call: 316351809