Use of stretching in the treatment of plantar fasciitis

Abstract

The objective of this research was to determine whether stretching exercises in patients with plantar fasciitis are beneficial in improving pain. Randomized controlled clinical studies published in the last 10 years were searched in PubMed (n= 29), Cochrane (n= 30) and PEDro (n= 28). The effect of stretching exercises in patients with plantar fasciitis on pain compared with other types of intervention or no intervention was investigated. Articles were evaluated for risk of bias using RoB2 and the level of evidence and strength of recommendation applying SORT. This research resulted in 87 articles, which, after applying the eligibility criteria, resulted in 3 articles. Plantar fascia stretching exercises are shown to be more effective than oral non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs and may be more effective than calf stretches and as effective as heat associated silicone heel pads. However, the first intervention shows inferior results when comparing plantar fascia and Achilles tendon stretching with lidocaine prolotherapy. Additionally, foam roller use presented better results in 2 of the outcomes studied, with no statistically significant difference in the remaining. Stretching seems to have a place in the treatment of plantar fasciitis, but there are methods that may be more effective, namely prolotherapy and foam roller exercises.