Study Status: Completed
Recruit Status: Completed
Study Type: Interventional
Official Title: Effectiveness of Manual Therapy Combined With Standard Treatment in the Management of Plantar Fasciitis, a Randomized Control Trial
Brief Summary:
Background: Plantar fasciitis (PF) is a common problem that tends to attack about 10% of the population during life. This is a degenerative condition of the plantar fascia at its insertion at the bottom of the heel. Pain appears mainly on the first steps in the morning or after prolonged lack of weight bearing. The pain intensity can be very high and this can cause functional limitations and reduce quality of life.
Despite the high prevalence of the PF, treatment is controversial and not supported by extensive research. Review of the previous studies on various treatments, mentioned steroid injections, shock waves, night splint, orthotics, heel padding and stretching exercises.
Limitation of ankle dorsi flexion is a common finding and thought to be a contributing factor to the development of pathology. So far, this issue had been addressed mainly by soft tissue therapy techniques to improve ankle range of motion in patients with PF. Only one study (Joshua et al 2009) evaluated the effect of ankle joint mobilizations of PF. However, in this study mobilizations were part of complex therapy and therefore the effect of treatment cannot be attributed solely to them.
The purpose of this study is to evaluate the effectiveness of ankle and mid-foot joints mobilization on pain and function of patients with PF.
The hypothesis is that manual mobilizations of ankle and midfoot joints in addition to conventional physical therapy will improve pain and function significantly more than conventional treatment, in patients with PF.
Methods: 50 patients, age 18-75 with a diagnosis of PF that meet the inclusion criteria will be recruited and randomly divided into two groups. Both groups will rec