Plantar Fasciitis and the Relationship to Strengthening Your Hips

Plantar Fasciitis and the Relationship to Strengthening Your Hips- By Hannah Schwartz

How prevalent is Plantar Fasciitis?

This is a common problem that individuals deal with on a day to day basis. Studies have seen that about 1 million patients and their physical therapy visits a due to plantar fasciitis per year. (3) This pathology can affect many different ages ranging from 7 years old to 85 years old with the most common age being individuals over 40 years old. (2)

What is the Plantar Fascia and what does it do?

The plantar fascia attaches from the heel of the foot to the base of the toes. This fascia has the limited ability to elongate and move, but it does stiffen up under increased tension. The plantar fascia helps to elongate through the arch when its load increases (by putting weight through it) and also acts as a shock absorber by storing the elastic energy from loading it. It is also a vital component of supinating (high arch) the foot for propulsion or push off when walking/running/jumping. (1)

Where does Hip Strengthening fit into all of this?

In relation to the foot, our foot/arch supinates (high arch) and pronates (flat/low arch). This can lead to an increase of stress that is put through soft tissue and the plantar fascia on the bottom of our foot. (4) In the human body our hip abductors (muscles that move our leg out to the side) and our hip external rotators (muscles that rotate our hip out) help to control pronation of the lower extremity down all the way to the foot. If we have weak hip musculature that controls the pronation (flat/low arch) of the foot then it results in more loading stress through the plantar fascia which can lead to the pain of plantar fasciitis that many individuals are dealing with. (2) 

A study was recently conducted that looked at individuals with plantar fasciitis on one leg and not on their other leg and compared their hip strength from one side to the other. This study demonstrated a substantial decrease in both the hip abductor (muscles that move our leg out to the side) muscle strength and hip external rotators (muscles that rotate our hip out) on the leg that was experiencing plantar fasciitis when compared to the other leg with no pain. (2)

How to help with Plantar Fasciitis?

1. Come see us at Colorado Institute of Sports Medicine (CISM) our Physical Therapists and Physical Therapy Assistance are experts on the muscles and movements of the body and we want to help you!

2. It may not be that your plantar fascia is the only problem, we can help determine what muscles we need to strengthen to help with you pain and problem!

3. STRENGTHEN your HIPS!

1. Bartold, S. J. (2004). The plantar fascia as a source of pain—biomechanics, presentation and treatment. Journal of bodywork and movement therapies, 8(3), 214-226.

2. Ebrahim, N. F., Abdelmegeed, S. F., Abdelnaeem, A. O., Hegazy, M. M. A., & Ghuiba, K. (2023). The Relationship between Plantar Fasciopathy and Hip Muscles Strength Deficits. The Egyptian Journal of Hospital Medicine, 91(1), 5112-5116.

3. John, J., & Augustine, J. EFFECTIVENESS OF GLUTEAL MUSCLES STRENGTHENING IN PATIENTS WITH PLANTAR FASCIITIS.

4. Lee, J. H., Park, J. H., & Jang, W. Y. (2019). The effects of hip strengthening exercises in a patient with plantar fasciitis: A case report. Medicine, 98(26), e16258.