Quick Plantar Fasciitis Pain Relief: Brace & Other Tips from Our Physical Therapist

Plantar Fasciitis pain can be debilitating and persistent, but it’s possible to get quick pain relief so that you can go about your day and stay active as you work on resolving the root cause.

Rest and NSIADs are probably the first to come to mind, and they certainly have a place in your treatment plan. However, there are better ways to get relief that also build toward full resolution. A foot brace designed specifically for Plantar Fasciitis is particularly helpful.

Read on for four tips from our co-founder and physical therapist that deliver the quick relief you need, and get you on the path for relief that lasts.

When this stress exceeds the capacity of your plantar fascia and other tissue in the kinetic chain, it can cause tiny tears in the fascia. These tears weaken the tissue, cause pain, and trigger inflammation.

Eventually, as a part of the natural healing process, scar tissue forms on the plantar fascia. Messier and weaker than healthy tissue, the scar tissue causes pain and tightness.

Plantar Fasciitis pain is primarily felt in your arch or heel, right where the plantar fascia is. A telltale sign of Plantar Fasciitis is morning pain in the arch or heel, especially as you take your first few steps of the day.

How you feel your Plantar Fasciitis pain can vary. Some people have constant aches in a broad area at the bottom of their feet, while others feel stabbing pain in a very specific spot in the heel or in the arch.

Pain is often triggered by changes in how and how much the plantar fascia is loaded. For example, morning arch pain is so common with Plantar Fasciitis, because you go from completely unloaded fascia during sleep to fully loaded fascia as you get up and walk.

Though we don’t recommend them, Plantar Fasciitis night splints are designed to mimic loading the plantar fascia overnight, in an attempt to reduce the morning pain from this change in load.

Similarly, some people feel their pain worsens as their fascia accumulates stress during activities; others’ pain gets worse after a period of rest. You may be fine walking on a carpeted floor, but have pain when walking outside on an uneven surface. This is why being aware of variables in your everyday life is important when recovering from Plantar Fasciitis and other chronic injuries.

Check out the foot pain chart here, where we explain different conditions by foot pain location, or take the quiz.

If you just started noticing symptoms, the first two may bring you enough relief right away. If your symptoms are persisting for more than a week or two, make sure to incorporate the full range of pain-relieving measures.

[Related: can you cure Plantar Fasciitis in one week?]

Overloading the plantar fascia aggravates pain and causes further damage to the weakened tissue. So, it’s a good idea to take a break from activities that cause you arch or heel pain.

Rest is an effective strategy when you just started noticing symptoms. However, don’t stay on the couch for too long - inactivity further reduces your capacity to handle the stress and load from walking and other activities, so a prolonged break can make you even more prone to pain and flare-ups, as soon as you go back to your normal activities.

Icing and NSAIDs (non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, like aspirin and ibuprofen) can help reduce pain temporarily. The mechanisms are different, but both icing and pain killers are symptom maskers. They provide a much-needed relief from pain, but your problematic tissue is still there, so the pain is likely to return once you stop using ice or NSAIDs.

Similar to wearing a brace, massaging Plantar Fasciitis has dual benefits: it gets you the pain relief you need to get through the day, and it helps heal the injured tissue.

Physical therapists use a technique called Instrument-Assisted Soft Tissue Mobilization (IASTM) to relieve pain, break up scar tissue and adhesions, and promote healing. Targeted and deliberate, IASTM is difficult to replicate with general-purpose massage guns or makeshift tools like a lacrosse ball, so we recommend using a condition-specific foot massager like our Arch Massager.

Plantar Fasciitis massage is particularly helpful in taking care of that morning pain. Many Alleviate users keep the Arch Massagers by their beds, and give the painful areas a quick massage right as they get up in the morning. Just 2-3 minutes is all you need to release tension and get your foot ready for the day.

We’ll be honest: our top recommendation is to stop trying generic braces and use our purpose-built Loft 2 Brace.

As we saw, an effective brace to relieve pain needs to replicate the effects of Plantar Fasciitis tape job (called low-dye taping). Most “braces” you see on the market don’t do that. (Many aren’t even real braces.) They fall into three categories:

• Night splints: Night splints can reduce the morning pain for some people, but because they keep your foot in a rigid position, you can’t wear them during the day for pain relief.

• General-purpose foot and ankle braces: With no scientific reasoning behind the design, these tend to immobilize your foot and ankle so much that you can’t wear them when active. Because they aren’t built with specific purpose in mind, they don’t lift your arch or reduce the load on the injured tendon. You may get some pain relief from cushioning or reduced activity levels, but not the healing benefits of the low-dye tape job.

• Glorified compression socks: Medical-grade compression socks have clear benefits, but their role in Plantar Fasciitis recovery is different from a foot brace. Too flexible to provide the support you need, compression socks are not a substitute for a good brace.

In contrast, the Loft 2 Brace has intentional design features that make it easy for anyone to replicate the low-dye tape job, specifically for Plantar Fasciitis relief:

• Simple lacing mechanism that pulls up the arch as you tighten the laces

• Adjustable Arch Power Strap that lets you lift the arch and unload the plantar fascia with an easy pull-and-wrap action

• Firm but non-rigid base plate that heightens your proprioception, mimicking the sensation of an expert tape job

• Low-profile, breathable, and washable design for everyday, all-day wear

Rest, icing, NSAIDs, brace, and massage all help treat the symptoms of Plantar Fasciitis quickly. Wearing a brace and massaging your arch and heel also contribute to real tissue healing. For long-term resolution and prevention, though, don’t forget progressive strengthening (a.k.a., PT exercises)!

Why are Plantar Fasciitis exercises so important? It’s because they can strengthen the key muscles and tendons that work together to maintain the healthy spring of the arch. A stronger, more stable kinetic chain prevents your plantar fascia from getting overloaded, even as you return to your favorite activities or even introduce new ones.

So, in order to make your pain relief stick, incorporate eccentric exercises that target the muscles and tendons in your foot, ankle, and calf. Here’s more on the best exercises for Plantar Fasciitis .

Alleviate was founded by a patient-clinician duo to bring the effective chronic pain treatment from physical therapy offices to everyone's home. With our all-in-one System for Plantar Fasciitis, you can easily follow the Alleviate Method to treat your pain, without the hassle of traditional physical therapy.