• 목록

If you repeatedly experience a stabbing pain in the bottom of your heel the moment you take your first steps out of bed in the morning, only for the pain to decrease after a few more steps, it is easy to dismiss it as having walked too much the previous day. However, if these symptoms repeat every morning, reappear whenever you stand up after sitting for a long time, and increase in frequency and intensity over time, you should suspect plantar fasciitis.

Plantar fasciitis is a condition where micro-damage accumulates due to repetitive overload on the plantar fascia, which supports body weight and absorbs shock on the sole of the foot. While it is often understood as simple inflammation caused by walking too much, a slightly different approach is actually needed. The problem is often closer to how the foot is being used rather than the amount of usage itself. If the arch structure of the foot is collapsed or if weight remains concentrated on a specific area, repetitive irritation focuses on a particular part of the plantar fascia, creating pain.

Therefore, plantar fasciitis often cannot be fundamentally resolved simply by resting. While pain may temporarily decrease, the same irritation is bound to repeat if the structural problems of the foot remain. In cases of morphological features such as flat feet or high arches, or if the flexibility of the ankle and calf is diminished, recovery may be slow or recurrence may be frequent. It is also extremely important to accurately distinguish it from conditions such as plantar fascia rupture, plantar nerve entrapment, calcaneal stress fracture, and fat pad atrophy, which have similar symptoms but entirely different treatment directions. This is because, even if it feels like the same heel pain on the outside, the treatment can change completely depending on the cause.

Director Hong-Joon Choi of Seoul Gunwoo Orthopedic Clinic, located near Gangil Station in Gangdong-gu, Seoul, emphasizes, "In plantar fasciitis, confirming the location of the pain alone is not enough. One must examine how the foot meets the ground, the flow of weight transfer, the movement of the ankle, and the tension of the muscles to more accurately understand the cause of pain and design appropriate treatment."

When diagnosing plantar fasciitis, Seoul Gunwoo Orthopedic Clinic precisely identifies the degree of damage and inflammatory status of the plantar fascia through ultrasound and MRI scans, determining an accurate treatment direction through differential diagnosis with similar diseases. Most cases of plantar fasciitis can be managed through non-surgical methods. The approach focuses on distributing the burden concentrated on the plantar fascia and reducing repetitive irritation through stretching, customized insoles, extracorporeal shock wave therapy, and physical therapy. A more stable recovery can be expected only when the process of improving the way the foot is used is performed alongside treatment to reduce pain.

However, in cases of intractable plantar fasciitis where pain persists despite long-term non-surgical treatment, surgical treatment can be considered. Director Choi explains, "There are cases where the prognosis was improved by applying a surgical approach to plantar fasciitis patients who did not improve with non-surgical treatment. The decision for surgery must be made carefully by comprehensively judging the duration and severity of symptoms and the response to non-surgical therapy."

Another point to note is the fact that neglecting plantar fasciitis for a long time leaves changes in movement rather than just the pain itself. Once a habit of avoiding the heel develops, the gait changes and weight shifts to the outside or front of the foot. These changes in walking patterns create a burden on other areas, eventually forming a vicious cycle of recurring pain. The goal of treatment is not simply to eliminate pain but to return to a state where one can walk naturally again.

While you are enduring foot pain, your body may already be changing its way of walking. If pain repeats, identifying the cause comes before enduring it. Director Hong-Joon Choi of Seoul Gunwoo Orthopedic Clinic holds a Ph.D. from Korea University and is a foot and ankle specialist who served as an exchange professor at the Foot and Ankle Center of Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH), affiliated with Harvard Medical School. Based on his rich clinical experience of treating over 80,000 foot and ankle patients and performing approximately 9,000 surgeries, he is dedicated to the diagnosis and treatment of all foot and ankle disorders, including hallux valgus, ankle ligament and cartilage damage, plantar fasciitis, Achilles tendonitis, ankle arthritis, Morton's neuroma, and tailor's bunion. Please receive an accurate diagnosis and customized treatment at Seoul Gunwoo Orthopedic Clinic, which does its best for the foot health of patients in the Gangdong, Hanam, and Misa areas.