Don’t let foot pain ruin your summer!

In summer we always see an increase in plantar fasciitis.  

If this has been you, you know the debilitating pain of an angry plantar fascia. Your first steps each morning are agony, like you’re walking on broken glass for the first 5 minutes of every day. The pain can settle to a tolerable level, that is unless you walk too far - which can be all of 10 metres.  

If this is you right now, you’re in luck! We’ve already written a blog on what to do if you think you have plantar fasciitis here.

This blog is to help you prevent getting it during the most likely time of year – summer! 

The main reason we see an increase in plantar fasciitis is the huge increase in walking and time on your feet, particularly in thongs, sandals, or flat shoes.  

Why does this happen in summer? 

• More daylight hours  

• More beach walks 

• More outdoor events 

More daylight hours mean we have time to fit in an evening walk or run, when you wouldn’t other times of year. This increases the number of steps you take every day.  

Walking on sand makes your foot work much harder than walking on flat ground. This really increases the load through your plantar fascia! 

Outdoor events like end of year work parties, family celebrations or whatever it may be. We tend to have multiple events on every weekend through summer, many of them standing outdoors in shoes flat shoes that look nice but don’t offer much support. 

How does that cause plantar fasciitis? 

Your plantar fascia is like a web that makes up most of the arch of your foot and supports the structure of your foot while you stand, walk, and run. If you spend most of your time in supportive shoes (shoes that provide support to your arch), then your feet aren’t used to long periods without support; it’s this increase in overall time on your feet, plus a reduction in time spent in supportive shoes that overloads your plantar fascia. When your arch can’t cope, you start to feel pain.  

How important is arch support in shoes?  

Most people don’t need much arch support, we have a fantastic system of muscles, tendons, ligaments, and fascia to support your foot. But it’s not what you need, rather what you’re used to. If you live the winter months in a supportive shoe, then ditch the support and increase your steps, you’re asking too much of your foot.

The solution? 

Make sure you have some shoes and thongs/slides/sandals that you’ll be happy to wear through summer, with a similar level of arch support to what you’ve been wearing recently.  

If you do start to feel a sharp pain on the underside of your heel when you walk, check out our plantar fasciitis blog. It will tell you what to do straight away.

Rather than letting it settle in for 6 weeks before having it assessed, give us a call and get on the right path straight away! 😊