By Bobby DeMuro
Where is the plantar tendon and what purpose does it serve?
The plantar tendon runs the length of the bottom of the foot, spanning from the base of the toes to the front of the heel. If you think of the arch of your foot as a bow, imagine the tendon as the string. The two ends of the bowstring attach at the base of the toes and at the front of the heel bone by means of fascia, a fibrous membrane.
The plantar tendon keeps the arch of the foot from flattening completely when the foot is bearing weight, thus providing cushioning and shock absorption when you’re walking, running or standing; the tendon also allows you to point your toes.
What is plantar fasciitis and what causes it?
Plantar fasciitis is an inflammation of the plantar fascia, that connects the plantar tendon to either the heel bone or to the base of the toes. It can be caused by any motion of your legs that creates a pull on the plantar tendon. That means walking or running up or down hills, climbing stairs, walking or running on your toes, wearing high heels, and more.

It can also be caused by heel striking, usually a result of over-striding by runners. If you’re landing forward with each stride, you’re very likely to land on your heel. Landing this way can create a force on your heels of up to 6 times your body weight with each step, in a very small area to be absorbing so much pressure.
Another way that runners end up with plantar fasciitis is musculoskeletal in origin. On the back side of your heel is the attachment of the Achilles tendon, which runs up your calf. If your calves are tight, or your achilles tendon is significantly inflexible, you will pull and tighten the plantar tendon and weakening the attachment of the fascia to the bone as you walk.
If for some reason the plantar tendon is pulled beyond what the fascia is capable of holding, the fascia forms micro-tears and begins to pull away from the bone. This will cause the fascia to become inflamed.
If the plantar tendon is consistently over-stretched for weeks or months, the body begins to add calcium at the location of the attachment between the tendon and the heel. Over time, enough calcium is added to actually build more bone mass in that particular spot on the heel, and you end up with a heel spur, which is more serious than plantar fasciitis, and sometimes requires surgery.
Other causes of plantar fasciitis can include:
- Inflexible, worn out shoes, or shoes that bend in the middle instead of the ball of the foot.
- Low arches, or coincidentally, high arches
- Being overweight
- Spending long hours on your feet
- Tight calf muscles or tight and stiff ankle ligaments
- Walking barefoot in soft sand for long distances
What are some ways to prevent plantar fasciitis?
Learn to relax your lower legs, especially your ankles and calves, whenever you’re walking, running, sitting or standing. Tension held anywhere in your legs or glutes will pull on the plantar tendon when you move. As you run, always keep your entire lower portion of the leg as limp and relaxed as possible through every phase of every stride.
If you’re a runner, you should also be mindful of landing with a midfoot strike. If you’re a walker you should land on the front of your heel and roll forward onto the balls of your feet. Never strike on the back of your heels when walking. Make sure you have a straight posture line and that your pelvis is level and that you are landing with your foot directly under your center of mass.
Don’t reach forward with your legs when walking or running. Let your upper body lead and let your legs follow. This will help you maintain more of a midfoot strike and avoid all that pounding to your heel, which is one of the biggest culprits in plantar fasciitis.
Additional tips to consider:
- Shorten your stride length when walking or running.
- Walk and run on flat surfaces as much as possible.
- Avoid hills, trails and uneven surfaces when running and walking
- Avoid stairs if in discomfort; treat yourself to an elevator occasionally!
- Improve the flexibility of the calf muscles and achilles tendon which pull on the plantar tendon
- Get a foot massages. The deeper, the better!
Treatment if you are in acute pain:
- Soak your heel in a bowl of ice water (5-10 minutes) twice daily until the pain subsides.
- Scrunch towels or pick up marbles with your toes.
- Take Ibuprofen for treating inflammation, but avoiding dependence after several days.
- Walk barefoot across a coarse gravel surface. If the idea makes you wince, do it in socks. This will vastly accelerate the healing process, as it keeps the plantar tendon supple.
- Orthotics can help reduce the pain on the bottom of the heel, but be mindful that they will not fix the reason why you have plantar fasciitis. If you don’t want to be tied to orthotics for months or years, you’ll need to change the movement habits that are causing the problem.
All of this hopefully will set you on your way to preventing plantar fasciitis or gradually ridding yourself of this very common, and very annoying problem. Rest is your friend when dealing with plantar fasciitis, but understand that it is liable to come back if you fail to strengthen the area after the point of the initial injury.





















