Sanjeevani Surgical & General Hospital

Plantar fasciitis is an orthopedic problem that gives rise to pain in the foot and heel due to strain or pressure on the plantar fascia. This is a ligament or connective tissue which lies in a flat band, connecting your heel with the toes and effectively, providing a basis for the motion of the feet in general. Inflammation, swelling and bruising of this tissue or ligament can lead to excessive pain in the heel.

Let us look at ways that can help you deal with this pain:

1. Rest: Taking rest and giving your feet a break from all kinds of strain inducing activities can help in relieving the pain. Also, you can keep your feet elevated to help in reducing the pain in the area.
2. Supportive footwear: Using pads within your shoes with gel built into them, or using specific footwear that help in walking without feeling too much of pain is a good way of dealing with Plantar fasciitis. The shoe inserts must be rubber, felt or plastic so that they are soft for your feet. They also give your heel and its arch good support, while Orthotics pulls the ligament so that there is less stress on the same. You can also pull on a pair of night flints which will keep the foot and the ligament stretched while you enjoy a good night of sleep.
3. Exercise: Indulging in mild muscle strengthening exercise that also involves stretching and heel hooks can help in alleviating chronic pain that you may be suffering from. Lie flat on your back and take a towel. Lift your leg and hook your foot into it. Now press against the towel and pull down the towel simultaneously. Repeat at least ten times per foot. This will give you flexibility and strength in the area.
4. Painkillers: Use painkillers only when absolutely necessary and with due advice from the doctor or Orthopaedic specialist. The use of Ibuprofen and other pain relievers can help in numbing the pain-inducing nerves in the brain and give you instant relief.
5. Anti-inflammatory drugs: Your doctor may prescribe anti-inflammatory medication that can bring down the swelling for more comfortable functioning when you are on your feet. Naproxen is one such drug that helps in bringing down the inflammation. Also, corticosteroid injections can relieve severe pain.
6. Surgery: Heel spur removal or Plantar fascia release are some of the surgical options for chronic and severe cases.

Taking care of your feet is a matter of ensuring that you look into the slightest discomfort and report the same to a doctor.

In every individual, the beginning of any chronic diseases takes place days ago. And it always begins with very low intensity of symptoms, usually skin eruptions. It is the first sign of beginning of the process of diseases. According to homoeopathy, any local diseases are the result of the process of disease in general.

So, to cure such chronic diseases along with the local disease that particular process of the disease in general also has to be treated to cure any chronic disease. If only the results are treated (any one disease) like in orthodox system of medicine that local disease will recur or it will shift its location to more important organs.

For Example - We witnessed a case where patient was suffering from renal failure now to treat renal failure we have to understand how the patient has landed into renal failure. Now here, renal failure is only the sequence of that process of disease in general.

When we took the history we noticed that he had suffered from some sort of skin eruptions on his right leg. He faced this problem when he was aging 14 years and got it treated with skin ointment and it got cured in 2 months. After 14 months, he suffered from asthma. After 15 years, he suffered from hypertension and then renal failure. Now, in this case, renal failure is the result of the process of diseases in general which started with skin and progressed to renal failure.

Now to treat renal failure only treating kidneys will not work, that process of disease has to be treated and has to be stopped so that his kidneys will get normal along with the medicines for kidneys.

To understand the process of diseases, there are 5 questions which patient has to answer in detail. If they answer these question then through this we can understand the process of disease in general in any patient and then we can come to a best homoeopathic medicine which can stop that process of disease and patient may come out of there suffering problems permanently.  

To answer these five questions, firstly one has to understand these questions properly. And while answering, patients have to describe their problem in terms of symptoms and not in terms of diagnosis. For example - I have asthma for 2 years, or I have a problem of sinusitis. It should be in the following way, I have headache problem, its a right-sided headache. Or there is heat sensation in the head.

So what are these questions are given below:

1. Write down all your symptoms in detail: Whatever symptoms you experience, where ever in your body, right from the head just describe it in your own words, right from your head to feet, not according to your preferred importance. For example - a patient may feel pain in the abdomen which is important for him so he will describe it, and also a symptom watery discharge from ear which is not important for him so he will not describe it. This should not happen, a patient has to describe every complaint with which he is suffering. For doctor, it can be very important symptom to treat your abdomen. It seems to be contradictory to your idea but that's not important.

2. Up to what age you were absolutely normal and since when you think health had started deteriorating and had shown what kind of symptoms initially and then what sequence of disease you had?

3. Keep aside all your symptoms or complaints. Let's try to understand you generally. Write it down what are the things to which you are intolerant of or what are the things which affect you. In this, you can add whatever you want to. Start with a level of metals, what you are intolerant of mentally, then climatic condition: what climatic conditions you cannot tolerate, and then food or drinks; what food and drinks you are intolerant of or that causes distress, last: any particular sight, anything whatever you want.

4. Do you have any outgrowth on skin (warts), any outgrowth on genitalia, or any sort of eruptions?

5. What you can write about the nature of your body, so far what you have understood of yourself?