Abstract
Background: Plantar fasciitis (PF) is one of the most common causes of plantar heel pain. Objective: To evaluate the effectiveness of three different treatment approaches in the management of PF. Methods: Sixty-three patients (44 female, 19 men; 48.4 ± 9.8 years) were randomly assigned into a manual therapy (MT), customised foot orthosis (FO) and a combined therapy (combined) group. The primary outcomes of pain and function were evaluated using the American Orthopaedic Foot and Ankle Society-Ankle Hindfoot Scale (AOFAS-AHS) and the patient reported outcome measure (PROM) Foot Pain and Function Scale (FPFS). Data were evaluated at baseline (T0) and at follow-up sessions after 1 month, 2 months and 3 months (T1–T3). Results: All three treatments showed statistically significant (p < 0.01) improvements in both scales from T0 to T1. However, the MT group showed greater improvements than both other groups (p < 0.01). Conclusion: Manual therapy, customised foot orthoses and combined treatments of PF all reduced pain and function, with the greatest benefits shown by isolated manual therapy.
Highlights
Plantar fasciitis (PF) is reported as the most common cause of plantar heel pain and is referred to as plantar fasciosis or fasciopathy, because these terms more accurately describe the inflammatory degenerative nature of the disease [1,2,3,4,5]
The AOFAS-AHS and FPF Scale data were transferred into Microsoft Excel and were analysed with a statistical software package (IBM, SPSS version 23, Chicago, IL, USA)
It suggests that manual therapy offers greater clinical benefits, reducing pain and improving function compared to customised foot orthoses and combined therapy
Summary
Plantar fasciitis (PF) is reported as the most common cause of plantar heel pain and is referred to as plantar fasciosis or fasciopathy, because these terms more accurately describe the inflammatory degenerative nature of the disease [1,2,3,4,5]. The prevalence rate ranges from 4% in general to 7% in older populations, and from 8% in athletes to 25% in runners [6]. Obesity, prolonged standing, running, limited ankle dorsiflexion, shortened triceps surae, hindfoot malalignment and increased age are all considered as potential risk factors [2,4,6,10,11]; their scientific evidence is weak. Plantar fasciitis (PF) is one of the most common causes of plantar heel pain
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