Plantar fasciitis is a severe foot condition that is extremely difficult to treat. From consulting numerous physicians to going for aggressive treatments, people with plantar fasciitis have tried everything to get relief. However, these treatments have failed to deliver the expected outcomes. As a result, many people with plantar fasciitis are showing a keen interest in the latest treatment for their condition: platelet-rich plasma therapy or PRP.
Chapter Overview
What Is Plantar Fasciitis?
Starting with the symptoms of plantar fasciitis, it is important to understand what this condition entails. Only once you have complete knowledge of the condition, you should seek out the different options available for it today.
Plantar Fasciitis is an extremely painful foot condition caused by inflammation of the tissue that extends from the heel along the arch of the foot. This condition commonly affects middle-aged athletes who become obese; it can also develop in runners and people who engage in intense workouts.
The symptoms of plantar fasciitis include pain localized along the heel and at the bottom area of the foot. It can become severe, especially when you first stand up in the morning, and can cause the muscles to tighten. The pain may subside quickly, but can return after prolonged standing or walking during the day.
Traditional Treatments for Plantar Fasciitis
Traditional treatments for plantar fasciitis include includes:
- Rest
- Ice therapy
- Stretching
- Oral intake of anti-inflammatories
- Use of creams manufactured for relieving pain
In addition to these traditional treatments, there are some other treatment options as well, such as surgery, cortisone injection, and shockwave therapy. Many people turn to surgery for treating plantar fasciitis when the traditional treatments for it fail. However, surgery cannot guarantee complete recovery.
Additionally, many complications have been reported in people who have had surgery. Plantar fasciitis worsens in some people after the surgery. To put it another way, there is a 50-50 chance of successfully treating plantar fasciitis with surgery and that, too, with complications.
The good news for people with plantar fasciitis is that an advanced treatment option called regenerative medicine is available for their condition; this is performed either with PRP therapy, which is not a stem cell therapy, or amniotic therapy, which involves the use of live stem cells. These treatments are designed to repair and regenerate damaged and inflamed tissue. We will discuss both these treatments in the next section, starting with PRP.
PRP for Plantar Fasciitis
PRP is a simple procedure that is performed by drawing the patient’s blood. The process is almost the same as getting a cortisone injection in your foot. PRP is injected into the bottom of the foot, and the entire procedure is completed in only 20 seconds.
How PRP Works
Here is how the PRP procedure works.
- The first step involves drawing blood of 30 to 60 CCS from the patient
- Next, the blood is spun rapidly in a centrifuge for about 15 minutes. This separates the blood sample into three layers
- The Top Layer is plasma; it’s not needed for PRP and hence, discarded
- The middle layer has red blood cells, and these are also discarded
- Referred to as the buffy coat, the third and final layer comprises white blood cells and a lot of platelets. This is what’s needed for PRP and thus the third layer is kept
The growth factors present in platelet-rich plasma along with platelets themselves are very powerful for helping heal damaged tissue.
Amniotic Therapy for Plantar Fasciitis
Amniotic therapy, like PRP, is part of the latest regenerative medicine treatment for plantar fasciitis. Therefore, it would make sense to compare the latter with PRP.
Firstly, amniotic therapy is performed using a fluid that comes from consenting mothers after a scheduled C-section. There are no complications for the baby, and thus, no ethical issues are involved.
Generally, the fluid needed for amniotic therapy gets thrown away. This is a shame when you consider that the fluid has a lot of stem cells and growth factors in addition to hyaluronic acid and cytokines. The fluid is extracted in a sterile manner, processed at an FDA-regulated lab, and then cryopreserved before being used for therapy. Today, it is available in fluid form as well as a membrane.
Studies Showing the Effectiveness of PRP in Treating Plantar Fasciitis
We now look at some studies that show the effectiveness of PRP in treating plantar fasciitis. The first of these studies is a 2016 study on the effectiveness and relevant factors of PRP treatment in managing plantar fasciitis.
The study looked at 12 articles that met the criteria for inclusion and exclusion.
A total of 455 patients were examined, and it was found that, when compared to conservative management of plantar fasciitis, PRP therapy might be a superior treatment with no obvious complications or side effects.
Another recent study looked at PRP versus corticosteroid. This was not a review but a comparative study. The study looked at 60 patients randomized for steroid versus PRP. The results showed that both were equally effective at three and six months.
However, the PRP was more durable, and it was statistically better at 12 months. Furthermore, 50 patients that were randomized showed that PRP was more effective than steroids in terms of pain and functional results through six months.
Final Word
Traditional treatments for plantar fasciitis tend to provide only temporary relief. As a result, most of the patients turn to surgery for permanent treatment. While surgery has successfully healed plantar fasciitis in several patients, it doesn’t have a very high success ratio.
Moreover, there are some risks involved. Therefore, using PRP, amniotic therapy, or other modern therapies that are known to help with the treatment of plantar fasciitis might be the best option for treating plantar fasciitis since both of these treatments are proven to provide long-term durable relief with no obvious complications or side-effects.
While you may not still feel some pain after injecting PRP, over three to four weeks, you should see improvements and, ultimately, permanent relief from plantar fasciitis.