Category Archives: Foot Pain

Plantar fasciitis is one of the most common conditions we treat in our sports medicine clinic. Inflammation of the plantar fascia causes pain in the heel or the arch.

A hallmark of plantar fasciitis, is pain when you first step out of bed in the morning. If  your first step in the morning is a pain in your heel or arch, you may want to try a plantar fascial night splint.

Plantar Fasciitis Posterior Night Splint – Medium (Colors May Vary)

A plantar fascial night splint is designed to keep your foot at a 90° angle, which gently and continuously stretches the plantar fascia, minimizing contraction, that can cause morning pain.

In our clinic, we recommend patients wear the night splint three hours before going to bed, which is usually effective in eliminating their morning pain. If your pain is not alleviated with wearing the splint before you go to bed, then wear it to bed.

Here’s a video from our FDFAC YouTube channel showing you how to properly use your night splint.

If you think you have plantar fasciitis or some other similar condition, it’s important to seek treatment with your podiatrist, as a delay in treatment may make your condition worse.

Life happens. Don’t wait.

Reader Mary makes a good point of caution:

“I love spin cycling and wore mountain bike cycling shoes in class. I fractured my right sesamoid bone in my foot. I did not clip in–just used the cages. I haven’t been able to go back to spin cycling since the injury.”

Sesamoiditis is a common condition where one of the two bones underneath the big toe become inflamed, injured or fractured. This most commonly occurs when there is repeated, constant pressure or force applied to the sesamoids or during a one-time time traumatic event.

This image shows the anatomy of the sesamoids as they relate to the big toe joint.

This image is of a weight-bearing x-ray, showing an intact sesamoid next to a fractured sesamoid.

I have treated many cases of sesamoiditis and fracture that happened during spin classes. Typically, this happens when the pedal rests squarely below the forefoot or when the majority of the class is spent out of the saddle.

You may need an MRI to confirm that the fracture is healed before going back, and you will definitely need to modify your cycling form. Less standing and less resistance when you do stand will give your quads more of a workout, and will also reduce the force going through the sesamoids.

For more information regarding sesamoiditis, here’s another blog post I wrote https://drshoereviews.com/2012/01/25/sesamoiditis-2/

In this video, Scottish podiatrist Samantha Gibson shows you how to evaluate your running shoes before purchase and after wearing. It’s easy, it’s quick and – if you’ve had foot pain due to excessive pronation – the 3-Point test can really help. Please note: although we consider these points running shoe must-haves, this test can be used with non-running shoes as well.