Plantar Fasciitis Reflexology?
Linking Plantar Fasciitis To Nociceptive Research?
If this article starts to give you a headache, just go get a foot massage. That’s what I did – Tara is a great masseuse!
See adjacent figure legend (had to move it, because it interfered with the hypotext link).
Plantar fasciitis reflexology just came as a hunch, based on thinking about the pain, and how it can come and go, in an instant. No inflammatory response, this. No way! Not until real damage occurs, late in the progression of the disease.
As a research pathologist, I’m driven to understand disease. I just can’t help it! As a veterinarian, humans are just one more animal species.
My thoughts led to reflexology, in which I have zero training. The reflexology map, at the bottom of this post, suggested that I’m onto something. Just look at the red patch, I added to the map. Pelvic girdle – the bony ring that forms the pelvis.
Then I started to look around in the literature.
Remember, doctors are still injecting cortisone into people’s heels; I call it ‘asleep at the wheel’.
I came across an article on the induction of intense cutaneous (skin) pain, by the use of intraneural microstimulation. But I don’t have an intraneural microstimulator! Bummer!
So I used FitOldDog’s neurostimulator instead. The adjacent figure shows data derived from this sophisticated neurological investigation, of one person’s feet, FitOldDog’s, by one person, FitOldDog – no sample bias, right?
Figure Legend: Photo of Rebecca’s right foot, used to record data from my feet. Remote sensation mapping carried out, using FitOldDog’s neurostimulator (lower left, construction materials, guarded by Scooter; upper left, completed neurostimulator tool). Involved quiet listening to my body – signal was sensation of a link. IMPORTANT NOTE: all linked sensations, except for foot area ‘1,’ were ipsilateral (same side). Area of right foot gently stroked with probe tip, and non-painful link sensation in body, was observed to project from the foot area numbered, to: (1) my left, damaged shoulder, (2) right upper back, (3) right middle back, (4) right lower back, where you get psoas pain, (5) right lower back near tail bone, (6) over right side of tail bone, (7) right hips, region of pyriformis and lateral gluts, (8) same as ‘7’ but deeper, (9) REALLY COMPLICATED, on right pelvic floor, clearly needing detailed mapping – it will take more than a coat hanger, to work this out.
Now, is that real science or junk science? – your call. I call it a start, at least!
For details of an old, but potentially relevant, article on nociceptive pain induction, click this link.
Jørum E1, Lundberg LE, Torebjörk HE. Abstract 1. Previous knowledge of the anatomical course of unmyelinated (C) axons along a peripheral nerve has been scarce and has led to the concept of the axons in a constantly interchanging position. 2. Results obtained by microneurography in the peroneal nerve at knee or ankle levels in awake humans demonstrated that the receptive fields of neighbouring C units in the nerve cluster in close vicinity on the skin of the foot or the ankle. These findings indicate that C afferents run closely together throughout large portions of the peripheral nerve. 3. Intraneural microstimulation performed at neural sites where nociceptive C units were recorded induced painful sensations projected to the skin. When the stimulus intensity was increased, there was typically a concentric increase in the area of projected pain, rather than recruitment of several scattered pain projections. This finding further supports the hypothesis of a neighbouring relation of nociceptive C axons within nerve fascicles, implying spatial recruitment of adjacent axons in the nerve with adjacent peripheral projections. 4. A pain locognosia test performed during ischaemic block of impulse conduction in myelinated fibres demonstrated a fairly precise cerebral localization of noxious events on the foot from the input of C afferent fibres alone.”“Peripheral projections of nociceptive unmyelinated axons in the human peroneal nerve.
See the area in red, right where most plantar fasciitis pain occurs. It ‘reflects’ to the hip girdle, and my method, though crude, was consistent.
What does this mean for the plantar fasciitis sufferer?
Look to your pelvic health.
Explore it with Feldenkrais,
Continuum,
Gyrotonic,
Zumba,
or general gyrations.
Be careful!
Remember, everything is linked – the hip bone IS connected to the leg bone
That is what plantar fasciitis is all about.
I’m pretty sure of that!
OH! YES! Please enter your data in the
Plantar Fasciitis Research Survey, at this link!
It’s confidential. Your treatment successes and failures will be added to our growing data base.
All data will be made available, to anyone who wants it.
As of today, we have data from 61 (and climbing), of the estimated 2,000,000 people with plantar fasciitis, in the USA today!
Wishing you happy feet and happy trails.
FitOldDog
Roger A Renne DVM on Keep Your Feet With Peripheral Artery Disease (PAD) or Diabetes: “Thanks Kevin for helpful advice on avoiding numb feet.” Feb 24, 13:11
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