What Plantar Fasciitis Really Is
Contemporary research shows that chronic plantar heel pain involves degenerative tissue changes — disorganized collagen, failed neovascularization, and fibroblast dysfunction — not the active inflammation the name implies. The more accurate term is plantar fasciosis: a degenerative condition where repetitive loading has exceeded the tissue's repair capacity.
Effective treatment must stimulate biological repair of the degenerated fascial tissue, restore the mechanical conditions allowing the plantar fascia to function within its capacity, and correct the biomechanical factors that created the excessive loading in the first place.