Plantar fasciitis: corticosteroid injection versus chiropractic therapy

The diagnosis of plantar fasciitis is usually clinical and rarely needs to be investigated further. The patient complains of pain in the medial side of the heel, most noticeable with initial steps after a period of inactivity and usually lessens with increasing level of activity during the day, but will tend to worsen toward the end of the day. Symptoms may become worse following prolonged weight bearing, and often precipitated by increase in weight bearing activities. Paresthesia is uncommon. It is usually unilateral, but up to 30% of cases have a bilateral presentation. In our study patients who received chiropractic therapy were treated by rest, heat, ice pack, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDS), heel pads, magnetic insole, night splints, walking cast, taping, ultrasound, plantar and Achilles stretching for a period of 6 weeks scheduled accordingly. Patients receiving corticosteroid injection were administered 80mg methyl prednisolone locally at the heel. Each patient received 3 doses of methyl prednisolone injections on 1st day, 2nd week, and 4th week. The results with corticosteroid injection were better when analyzed with numeric rating scale over a period of 6 weeks