If you've ever had a stabbing, almost crippling pain in the bottom of the foot where your arch meets your heel bone, you've likely suffered from plantar fasciitis. This occurs when that thick band of tissue that runs down the arch of your foot from the toes into the heel, called the plantar fascia, gets inflamed. 

The pain is generally the worst after long periods of inactivity, such as when you first wake up in the morning or when you've been sitting down for a while. The inflammation will sometimes go down as you increase activity throughout the day, but this doesn't mean the condition will go away completely. 

Symptoms

The most obvious symptoms of plantar fasciitis are going to be sharp pains in the bottom of the foot after long periods of laying down, sitting, or standing still. While the pain might go away temporarily during exercise, it can be brutal after the workout. 

Causes

The primary reason for developing plantar fasciitis is overuse or too much pressure on the ligaments that make up the plantar fascia. This is often a case of ill-fitting shoes, excessive activity without recovery, or from years and years of walking and running. 

In some cases, people with very high arches or with particularly flat feet can develop plantar fasciitis from having unorthodox foot mechanics. Other causes include tight calves and Achilles tendons, which is why stretching before and after running is important. 

While athletes are susceptible to inflammation in the arches of the feet, the most common injuries of the fascia occur in men and women aged 40-70. 

Treatment

Treating plantar fasciitis is much the same as any other inflammatory issue with the body. The classic R.I.C.E technique (Rest Ice Compression Elevation) is your go-to here, along with taking some basic anti-inflammatories such as ibuprofen or Advil. 

Physical therapy is an important part of the treatment process as well. If you are working with a physical therapist, he or she will try and work on both stretching out and strengthening the calves and the Achilles to alleviate the amount of strain on the bottoms of the feet. 

In some serious instances, doctors may shoot up the sole of the foot with cortisone to numb the pain while the patient rests and rehabs the foot. 

Shoe orthotics are also a very common but effective way of addressing the fascia in the foot. Orthotics are designed to specifically fit the owner's foot and make sure that there aren't any unnecessary forces being applied to the soles. Other patients will also use a splint at night to keep the bottoms of the feet stretched out during sleep. 

Ways to prevent plantar fasciitis

If you haven't gotten fasciitis in your foot yet, but you want to ensure that it never happens to you, try to get ahead of the curve by stretching and massaging your calves and arches frequently. It might be painful, but your best friend to massage the bottoms of your feet and work out the tightness is going to be a lacrosse ball. Sit on a couch or a chair and put the ball under your foot. Put both hands on the knee of the leg that's on the ball to add pressure, and then roll the ball around with the bottom of your foot.