Plantar Fascitis Injection
What is plantar fasciitis?
The plantar fascia is the tough connective tissue that stretches from the heel to the ball of the foot that helps support the arch of the foot. Plantar fasciitis is a painful foot condition (pain at the bottom of the heel) caused by an injury to the plantar fascia due to a high arched or flat foot, non-supportive footwear, walking on hard surfaces, obesity and overuse injury. The treatment for plantar fasciitis starts with approaches to decrease pain by decreasing inflammation. Conservative methods include daily stretching, splinting of the foot at night and anti-inflammatory medications. If these treatments do not help, the next step is often platelet-rich plasma injection into the plantar fascia under ultrasound guidance.
How is a plantar fascia injection done?
At Atlas Pain Care, Coimbatore, you will be asked to change into a hospital gown and taken to our procedure room. First, under sterile conditions, about 20 ml of blood is obtained from your arm for centrifuging. The centrifuging takes a few minutes, following which we have a platelet-rich plasma injectate to inject close to the plantar fascia. You will then be positioned comfortably and the heel is cleaned with antiseptic solution and draped. The injection site is then identified using ultrasound guidance and a small amount of local anaesthetic is injected into the skin overlying the injection site to numb the skin. The platelet-rich plasma is then given through a longer needle that has been positioned in the exact spot using ultrasound guidance. You may feel some discomfort during the injection, but this normally settles quickly. The whole procedure takes around 20 minutes. After the procedure, you will be placed on a trolley and taken to recovery, where you will remain for around an hour.
What happens after the injection?
The numbing effect usually lasts a few hours after the injection. The healing takes place over the next several weeks, and it will continue to work for several weeks to months. Patients should resume stretching exercises of the foot a few days after the injection to obtain long-term benefits.
Please read our FAQ section to know more about the do's and don'ts prior to and after the procedure.