Why does plantar fasciitis hurt in the morning?

“Well, this has to be the most common question about the condition. The pain endured by sufferers of the condition is probably between 3 and 4 times the severity at all other times.  In medicine we measure the strength of pain using something called VAS, or Visual Analogue Score. In simple terms we ask people to measure their pain from one to 10. It really is that simple. Looking at people’s reported measurements it seems that it is far worse in the morning.

Why is this? Well, overnight the plantar fascia fibres tighten up as your foot rests and this contraction or shortening of the fibres means that hopping out of bed first thing in the morning and giving them a stretch gives the most pain you’ll feel all day.

So what can you do? It is important to stretch the foot early on, before putting weight onto it. That certainly helps. One to two minutes of vigorous rubbing can also help. If you are using Plantarcure then this is an ideal time to use it for the first treatment so set your alarm for 10 minutes early and use it before you start your day.”

Ranjan Vhadra, Orthopaedic surgeon.

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