What Causes Plantar Fasciitis to Be Worse in Summer?

Sum­mer is the sea­son for sun­shine, spend­ing days at the beach, and hav­ing pic­nics in the park. But did you know that it’s also the sea­son for foot pain?

Through­out the sum­mer, it’s com­mon to have cer­tain types of foot pain and to devel­op a con­di­tion called plan­tar fasci­itis. It’s even more com­mon near the end of the sum­mer, after spend­ing months out and about on your feet. In fact, so many peo­ple com­plain of foot pain as sum­mer draws to a close that podi­a­trists have deemed late sum­mer and ear­ly fall ​“Plan­tar Fasci­itis Season.”

First Things First: The Fasci­itis Facts

Plan­tar fasci­itis (pro­nounced ​“fa-shee-AI-tuhs”) is a foot con­di­tion that occurs when the plan­tar fas­cia (a thick band of tis­sue that runs from the base of the heel bone to the ball of the foot) becomes inflamed. It is extreme­ly com­mon – in the US, more than 2 mil­lion peo­ple are treat­ed for plan­tar fasci­itis every year. If you have heel pain, plan­tar fasci­itis is very like­ly to be the cul­prit since it’s the lead­ing cause of heel pain.

The tell­tale sign of plan­tar fasci­itis is a stab­bing pain in the bot­tom of your foot, right near your heel. The pain tends to be worse when tak­ing your first steps after wak­ing up. It can also occur when you get up from sit­ting or if you’ve been stand­ing for a long time.

But plan­tar fasci­itis symp­toms don’t start and stop with heel pain. You might also have stiff­ness, swelling around your heel, pain in the arch of your first, or a tight Achilles ten­don (the ten­don that con­nects your calf mus­cles to your heel bone).

If per­sis­tent heel pain is affect­ing your dai­ly life, know that relief is pos­si­ble. Our expe­ri­enced podi­a­trists at Duly Health and Care are ready to lis­ten to your con­cerns, answer your ques­tions, and work with you to find the best treat­ment option. Don’t let foot pain hold you back; sched­ule your appoint­ment today.

What Caus­es Plan­tar Fasci­itis to Be More Com­mon in the Summer?

Plan­tar fasci­itis can hap­pen year-round, but it’s espe­cial­ly com­mon dur­ing the warmer months. There are two main reasons:

Rea­son #1: Your Footwear

It might come down to your shoes (or lack there­of). Flip flops are a sum­mer shoe sta­ple. And since they can eas­i­ly get sandy or dirty, it can be tempt­ing to grab a cheap pair, wear them out all sum­mer, and replace them the next year. It can be just as tempt­ing to put aside shoes alto­geth­er and let your toes enjoy the grass and sand.

How­ev­er, walk­ing around bare­foot or in flip flops can take a toll on your feet. Wear­ing flip flops or no shoes at all usu­al­ly means not get­ting enough arch sup­port. Pres­sure doesn’t get even­ly dis­trib­uted across the foot, which puts strain on the plan­tar fas­cia and can lead to plan­tar fasciitis.

You don’t nec­es­sar­i­ly need to say good­bye to sum­mer san­dals. Lim­it how much time you spend in san­dals or flip flops, and pay close atten­tion when choos­ing a pair.

Rea­son #2: Increased Phys­i­cal Activity

As the weath­er becomes warmer, couch pota­to sea­son often comes to an end. Peo­ple tend to be more phys­i­cal­ly active dur­ing the sum­mer than they are dur­ing cold­er months.

While that uptick in phys­i­cal activ­i­ty is great for your over­all health, it can come at a cost to your feet. Spend­ing too much time on your feet, espe­cial­ly if you’re doing activ­i­ties like walk­ing or run­ning that involve repet­i­tive move­ments, can trans­late into more stress on your heels and weak­er ten­dons. This can cause inflam­ma­tion, prompt­ing the start of plan­tar fasci­itis symptoms.

If you’re wor­ried about plan­tar fasci­itis, don’t head back to the couch just yet. There are plen­ty of ways to reduce your risk. Make sure to stretch before and after phys­i­cal activ­i­ty, wear the right shoes, and rest after intense activ­i­ty so your feet have time to recov­ery. Replace your sneak­ers every six months or once you’ve put 300 to 500 miles on them (whichev­er comes first).

Also read: Vari­ety and Recov­ery: Keys to Exer­cise Success

What Else Caus­es Plan­tar Fasciitis?

Whether the weath­er be boil­ing or freez­ing, all it takes is dam­age or irri­ta­tion to your plan­tar fas­cia to get plan­tar fasci­itis. Some of the risk fac­tors include:

• Play­ing a sport or exer­cis­ing with­out warm­ing up or stretching
• Exer­cis­ing or work­ing on a hard sur­face, such as a side­walk or ware­house floor
• Stand­ing for too long
• Start­ing a new activity
• Obe­si­ty
• Being 40 – 60 years old
• Tight calf muscles
• Flat feet or nat­u­ral­ly high arches
• Med­ical con­di­tions like cer­tain types of arthritis

How to Pre­vent Plan­tar Fasciitis

In addi­tion to choos­ing the right san­dals and pay­ing extra atten­tion to your feet when exer­cis­ing, there are oth­er ways to reduce your risk of devel­op­ing plan­tar fasciitis:

• Avoid walk­ing bare­foot on hard surfaces.
• Do dai­ly exer­cis­es to strength­en your arch mus­cles and to keep your calf mus­cles flexible.
• Main­tain a healthy weight.
• When wear­ing dress shoes, go for low heels. Stilet­tos and high heels force your foot into an unnat­ur­al arch, while flats don’t pro­vide enough sup­port to your plan­tar fascia. 

Also read: Fit­ness for Your Feet

Treat­ment for Plan­tar Fasciitis

You can’t always pre­vent plan­tar fasci­itis, but it’s not all bad news. Most peo­ple with plan­tar fasci­itis recov­er from it, and the vast major­i­ty do so with sim­ple treat­ment methods.

Some of the most com­mon at-home treat­ments include:

• Tak­ing a break from sports or oth­er activ­i­ties that caused your plan­tar fasci­itis for at least a week
• Over-the-counter med­ica­tions that decrease pain and inflammation
• Icing your foot for 10 to 15 min­utes, two times a day
• Stretch­ing exercises

In some cas­es, you may need to go a lit­tle fur­ther with treat­ment. For instance, your provider may recommend:

• Phys­i­cal therapy
• Splints or orthotics (cus­tom-fit­ted arch supports)
• Using a cane, crutch­es, or a walk­ing boot
• Injec­tions of cor­ti­cos­teroids (anti-inflam­ma­to­ry medications)

It’s rare that you will need surgery for plan­tar fasci­itis. But if the pain is severe and oth­er treat­ments aren’t work­ing, you may need a pro­ce­dure to detach the plan­tar fas­cia from your heel bone.

Also read: Is Heel Pain Keep­ing You Off Your Feet?

Pay atten­tion to your feet and see your provider if you have per­sis­tent heel pain. With the right care, you have a good chance of ​“heel”-ing from plan­tar fasciitis.