Intrinsic Muscle Strength in Plantar Fasciitis

It is many blog posts on the to the impression that a particular treatment is effective. However, even placebo treatments can show an improvement in this ailment simply because they make it appear that the technique was effective. In reality, people who suffer from this type of fasciitis may experience an improvement in the condition without any intervention; this is just an unusual attribute of the condition itself.

Studies and Methodologies, Intrinsic Muscle Strength

There are many current treatments for plantar fasciitis did not undergo the kind of rigorous testing and peer-review process that is normally expected. Studies that did exist often contained serious flaws in the methodology employed by the researchers. It is necessary to the accepted standards and best practices in clinical research.

A recently published case study is cited here, and it can be used as an example of the process that is widely accepted in research fields. This study used evidence to make an effective plan for treatment. Uniform or identical treatment plans are seldom effective for everyone, so people who propose them should be treated with a healthy dose of skepticism.

Intrinsic Muscle Strength Case Study

In this study, a control group was used to differentiate between experienced runners who have the condition and those runners who do not have any pain or inflammation in the plantar fascia. The study was published in the Journal of Science and Medicine in Sport. Although the study with a larger control group is better, this study did a good job on making the selected group representative of the general population.

The methods were sound, and the analytical statements were made based on empirical evidence. In this study, the control group of runners without any foot condition had a measurably larger volume and intrinsic muscle strength than the test group of runners with plantar fasciitis. However, this is clearly a case control type of study, so no conclusions can be reached simply by examining the findings. In other words, discernible muscle weakness was found in the test group, but there is no positive correlation between this lack of volume in the proximal plantar muscles and the fasciitis.

Concluding Remarks

There is no harm in addressing intrinsic foot muscle weakness alongside with the fasciitis problem. It is not absolutely necessary to prevent a clinical treatment plan from being developed based on existing evidence, and the research studies aid in this process. As long as the theoretical basis of the treatment plan maintains coherency with the evidence presented, it should produce the desired results. Evidence-based treatment plans are not infallible, but they build the foundation for future efforts.