Plantar fasciitis is a common condition caused by inflammation of the thick tissue located on the plantar area of the foot. Dr. Cosimo Ricciardi and Dr. Neil Patel at Emerald Coast Podiatry in Crestview and Fort Walton Beach, FL, can help you understand when to seek the therapy you need to manage this type of persistent, upsetting foot pain.

When It’s Time to See a Doctor 

 Much of the time, you can treat this condition at home with various types of pain medicines, such as non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs. 

RICE, or rest, ice, compression, and elevation, can also help make this problem less severe. That said, there are times when personal care is not enough. Here’s when you need to see a doctor for this condition:

• Pain medicines don’t relieve your suffering enough to walk comfortably 
• The RICE treatment does little to alleviate your suffering
• More heel pain develops throughout your foot and keeps getting worse

 Doctors can help you manage plantar fasciitis in and around Crestview and Fort Walton Beach, FL, by utilizing various advanced treatments. It’s essential to call us when your usual therapies don’t work and your feet are truly aching. Thankfully, we know multiple care options to help make your recovery easier.

How We Can Help You 

 We’ll start by prescribing pain relievers to mitigate your foot’s plantar-related suffering. We can then move on to physical therapy by stretching and flexing the plantar fascia, Achilles tendon, and muscles in the lower legs. Massage therapies, contrast baths, and other care options can relieve much of your pain and help your plantar fascia recover more quickly. 

If your condition doesn’t respond to these therapies, we’ll move on to procedures like Tenex and surgery. Tenex involves making a small cut and then using ultrasound to remove scar tissue. Surgical techniques focus on removing the fascia from the heel bone to relieve pain. We only use that method when all other techniques have failed.

Recovery Is Available for You

 With the help of Emerald Coast Podiatry in Crestview and Fort Walton Beach, FL, Dr. Ricciardi, and Dr. Patel, you can bounce back from plantar fasciitis and get the long-term support you need. Call our team at (850) 682-6522 for our Crestview office and (850) 862-4119 for our Fort Walton Beach office to learn more about these care options, and we’ll do whatever we can to help.