Do you suffer from plantar fasciitis heel pain and/or ankle pain? If so, you’re not alone.

According to Medscape, an estimated one million patients visit the doctor yearly because of plantar fasciitis. This chronic foot condition causes 10% of running injuries and comprises up to 15% of all foot-related issues needing professional treatment. Moreover, it’s estimated that 10% of the general population deals with plantar fasciitis.

The good news? Given plantar fasciitis’s prevalence, there’s been plenty of research and advancements in treatments to reduce pain and improve your quality of life.

The Symptoms And Causes Of Plantar Fasciitis Heel Pain

Plantar fasciitis is primarily known for causing chronic heel pain and is the most common cause of that same symptom. The condition occurs when a strain, swelling, or inflammation occurs in the thick tissue band travelling across the bottom of the feet and connecting the toes and heels. This band of tissue, or ligament, is called the plantar fascia.

The function of the plantar fascia is to absorb shock while walking, wherein small tears can result from stress and tension on the fascia.

If tearing and stretching persist, it causes inflammation and irritation. That said, in many instances of plantar fasciitis heel pain, the underlying cause is often unclear.

Symptoms of plantar fasciitis include stabbing pain near the heel at the bottom of your foot. Most often, any related stiffness and soreness are at their worst when you wake up. Additionally, extended periods of walking or standing can trigger pain and discomfort. Standing up after sitting for a long time can also lead to a flare-up of your plantar fasciitis symptoms.

Those suffering from plantar fasciitis heel pain can worsen their symptoms by wearing hard-heeled or ballerina/flat-soled shoes.

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(While plantar fasciitis ankle pain is less frequent than heel pain, it’s still a risk for those hampered by this chronic foot condition. Episodes of plantar fasciitis can irritate your nerves and radiate to your ankle, causing severe discomfort.)

What Are The Risk Factors Of Plantar Fasciitis?

Here’s a list of factors that leave you vulnerable to plantar fasciitis heel pain and ankle pain:

• People between 40 and 60 years old tend to suffer most from plantar fasciitis.

• Anybody who partakes in long-distance running, aerobic dance, or ballet dancing is likelier to face plantar fasciitis symptoms. These types of activities rely on heightened stress on the heel and plantar fascia.

• Atypical walking patterns, high arches, and flat feet impact weight distribution when you stand, placing additional strife on your plantar fascia.

• Carrying too much body weight creates excess plantar fascia stress.

• Teachers, servers, and factory workers tend to suffer from plantar fasciitis heel pain because of how much time they spend on their feet during the working day.

Can Plantar Fasciitis Cause Complications?

Plantar fasciitis can have a negative, cascading impact on your quality of life. Due to the chronic heel pain you might face, you are likelier to change how you walk. This compensation can lead to broader foot issues or cause damage to your back, hip, and knees.

Treating Your Plantar Fasciitis

Much of the time, plantar fasciitis symptoms disappear soon after you wake up and get moving. All the same, the pain can often become more chronic and impede your overall quality of life. Thus, even if symptoms are minor, it’s best to be proactive and receive treatments ASAP.

After receiving a diagnosis from a trusted foot and ankle specialist, you’ll be given a conservative treatment plan that includes:

• Performing daily calf muscle stretches
• Wearing supportive footwear with a cushioned heel raise
• Putting insoles into your shoes
• Reducing weight-bearing activities like standing and walking

Specific instances might call for you to tape your foot, take anti-inflammatory medication for a few days, apply ice, and use a night splint.

Provided symptoms don’t improve after more conservative treatments, ultrasound-guided cortisone injections or shockwave treatments are worth considering.

Long-suffering patients with overly rigid calf muscles might benefit from a minor operation. In this instance, the tight calf muscle gets released by a small incision, relieving plantar fascia stress.

Are you dealing with chronic plantar fasciitis heel pain (or ankle pain)? Then contact one of London’s leading orthopaedic surgeons specialising in ankle and foot problems, Martin Klinke, to receive effective, lasting guidance and treatments.

Martin Klinke is a world-renowned foot specialist who has been practising in London for over 20 years. He has dedicated his career to helping people with foot problems and has helped patients regain mobility and quality of life. Mr Klinke is one of the leading foot specialists in London with qualifications in orthopaedics and sports medicine.

He can help you with everything from bunions to Achilles tendinopathies and much more. He's a consultant at the London Foot and Ankle Centre and London Bridge Orthopaedics, and he offers a wide range of services designed to meet your needs. So, if you're looking for a "foot specialist near me," be sure to give Martin Klinke a call.

Martin Klinke Excellence in Foot and Ankle Care

Total Ankle Replacement Focus

Martin Klinke is one of only a handful of surgeons in the United Kingdom with a focus on total ankle replacement. This means he can provide you with this cutting-edge procedure if you have end-stage arthritis or other conditions that haven't responded to conservative treatment. Total ankle replacement can relieve pain, improve function, and restore quality of life for many patients.

If you're looking for an ankle replacement surgeon in London, look no further than Martin Klinke. He has the experience and expertise to get you back on your feet and enjoying life again.

Biologic Foot and Ankle Treatment

Martin Klinke is also a pioneer in the use of biologic treatments for foot and ankle conditions. Biologics are substances derived from living organisms and can be used to promote healing and reduce inflammation.

Some of the biologic treatments that Mr Klinke offers include platelet-rich plasma injections which may help to stimulate your healing process. These cutting-edge treatments can help you heal faster and get back to your normal activities sooner.

Managing Surgical Pain with Less Medication

Martin Klinke is committed to helping his patients manage their pain with less medication. He offers a variety of options for postoperative pain management, including local anaesthesia, nerve blocks and various physical therapies. These techniques can help you stay comfortable during your recovery and get back to your normal activities sooner. The thing is, when you're in pain, it's tough to stay positive and motivated.

That's why Martin Klinke also offers psychological support to his patients. He understands the importance of a positive outlook during recovery and will work with you to ensure that you have the support you need to heal properly.

Moving Foot and Ankle Care Forward

Martin Klinke is always looking for ways to improve the care he provides to his patients. He is constantly researching new treatments and procedures and is always up-to-date on the latest advances in foot and ankle care. This means that you can be confident you're getting the best possible care when you see Mr Klinke. He is committed to providing his patients with the best possible outcomes and the highest quality of life.

The Comprehensive Services He Offers

Martin Klinke treats a wide spectrum of foot-related conditions and is passionate about helping his patients achieve their goals and live their best lives. He will work with you to develop a treatment plan tailored to your specific needs. Whether you're looking for relief from pain or you want to improve your function, he can help.

Why Choose Martin Klinke?

There are many reasons to choose Martin Klinke as your foot and ankle specialist. Here are just a few:

• He is a leading expert in his field
• He has a wealth of experience
• He offers comprehensive services
• He uses cutting-edge treatments
• He is committed to helping his patients achieve their goals
• He has a passion for his work
• He is dedicated to his patients

Why You Should Seek the Services of Martin Klinke for Your Foot and Ankle Needs

These and many more reasons are why you should entrust your foot and ankle care to Martin Klinke. He is dedicated to providing you with the best possible care and treatment and will work tirelessly to help you achieve your goals. Contact his office today to learn more about what he can do for you.

From Achilles tendon ruptures to shin splints–and everything in between–there’s no escaping the damage foot-related issues inflict upon your overall health, wellness, and quality of life.

There are instances where injuries are so catastrophic that specialised care is your only option. However, other situations arise in which finding a foot and ankle specialist isn’t a straightforward decision. Many should-be patients often tell themselves that they can “tough it out” because they fear the worst from potential treatments.

Indeed, minor tweaks, strains, and pulls can be overcome with some straightforward conservative treatment.  

Yet, bearable heel or ankle pain can persist and fester into something more debilitating. So, you owe it to yourself to visit a leading foot and ankle clinic–even when the issue doesn’t seem severe. You deserve to live pain-free and not be forced to “tough it out.”

Visit A Foot And Ankle Clinic To Prevent Or Offset Long-Term Issues

Foot problems, such as plantar fasciitis, go beyond the physical toll you experience. These issues cause emotional turmoil and weigh heavily on your mental health.

Furthermore, the physical toll you pay when dealing with a foot-centric injury or chronic pain goes beyond your feet. This discomfort you experience frequently leads to postural changes and adjustments in how you walk. As a result of these compensations, you can change all your trigger points and transfer physical burdens to areas like your knees, hips, and lower back.

You may have gone through a traumatic foot injury, like an ankle fracture, and recovered just enough to continue on with your daily life, but some pains and aches never gone away.

In the above instance, if you choose to “tough it out” and not seek an expert’s opinion, you might never fully recover from that injury because you never made the necessary correction. A foot and ankle specialist can provide the medical council and treatments to move on from the fracture without further damaging your psyche or body.

The same notion applies to chronic issues like an arthritic ankle or bunions that develop over time and aren’t caused by one specific incident. An appointment at a highly respected foot and ankle clinic can be the first step to mitigating these issues and getting your life back.

Work With A Foot And Ankle Specialist Who Offers Personalised Care

Whether it’s a common condition like bunions and ankle sprains to more unique problems like flat feet or tendinopathies, foot and ankle issues run the gamut in severity and root causes. These conditions must be dealt with case-by-case by experts familiar with various diagnostic techniques to get to the bottom of a patient’s foot or ankle ailment.

Two patients with similar symptoms might require different treatments. Two patients could present different symptoms but suffer from the same issue. It takes an expert eye to assess the circumstances from all angles to correctly and promptly diagnose before providing potential solutions.

Mr Martin Klinke is a leading foot and ankle specialist in London. He provides highly personalised, patient-specific care and dedicates his vast skill set to successfully treating your foot-related ailment.

Why Choose MR Martin Klinke As Your Foot And Ankle Specialist?

With two decades of experience, Mr Klinke has been a member of the London Foot and Ankle Centre–the most highly-reputed centre of its kind–since 2004. Currently, he is the senior orthopaedic foot and ankle surgeon at London Bridge Hospital, having begun as a full-time private foot and ankle surgeon there in 2008.

Specialising in the entire spectrum of ankle and foot pathologies, Mr Klinke performs all reconstructive foot/ankle surgeries. Although he deals with complex ankle and hindfoot pathologies like arthritis of the ankle/subtalar joint and severe deformities, he also covers the whole spectrum of sports-related injuries including ligament and tendon ruptures. Mr Klinke also has vast experience in treating all sorts of forefoot problems like bunions, hammertoes Morton’s neuroma and hallux rigidus.

One clear benefit of receiving foot and ankle treatment from Mr Klinke is his belief that surgical intervention isn’t the first course of action.

Instead of looking for reasons for you to go under the knife, Mr Klinke provides a thorough examination of your foot and ankle. He will take a complete history of your problems, and if indicated he will arrange the correct imaging for you like X-rays, ultrasound scans, MRI scans, normal CT scans or a standing full weight bearing CT scan.

As he works closely with a team of foot/ankle interested colleagues you may be referred to a podiatrist and have a thorough biomechanical examination and a gait analysis to compile more information before initiating the correct conservative treatment.

If you want the most thorough, personalised care that leaves no stone unturned in solving your foot or ankle problem, book an appointment with Mr Klinke today!

While a great deal of us have heard of the condition known as Plantar Fasciitis, far fewer may know exactly what it is, how it affects us and how exactly it is treated. Despite its rather exotic name, it is quite a common condition, one which can cause a great deal of pain on the underside of the foot, typically under the heel but also along the arch of the foot causing tenderness to the touch. It is a condition that can be particularly bad after periods of non-weight bearing, for example getting up in the morning or after long periods seated. It can also cause pain after long periods on your feet, yet you might be fine while you are active. Typically the pain subsides at some stage, and the condition itself can also be temporary, lasting anywhere up to around a fortnight. For some, however, it can be a longer term problem requiring professional advice and medical intervention.

Causes

Plantar Fasciitis develops when the tissues running between the heel area up to the foot’s arch become inflamed. This area acts as the body’s natural shock absorber but can easily become damaged from repetitive daily wear and tear, sudden impacts or just something as simple as a barefoot walk across hard ground. There are links between the onset of Plantar Fasciitis and a sudden increase in activity levels, placing those who might have started jogging, joined the gym or taken up other physical activities at more risk. There are also strong links between the condition and obesity as well as those with flat feet.

Diagnosis

Generally, if the condition hasn’t improved within a fortnight, it may be a longer term issue and making an appointment with your local GP should be considered. Typically your doctor will explore the history of your condition and undertake a physical examination to rule out other potential causes of the pain. This may involve touching the heel to see if it causes pain and asking you to flex your toes upwards to tighten that area between heel and arch (the fascia) to examine it under tension.

Ultrasound might also be an option to help ascertain the fascia’s thickness. A thickness greater than 4mm is generally indicative of the condition and a diagnosis can be made.

Easing the pain

There are several things you can undertake yourself to help alleviate the pain caused by Plantar Fasciitis. The most common (and one of the most effective) is comfortable, supportive footwear with particular focus on the heel and the arch of your foot, making trainers and sports shoes ideal. The comfortable shoes should raise your heel a little bit and support your arch. Stretching your calf muscles three times a day for a few minutes is also very effective. Rolling your foot over a small soft ball such as a golf or tennis ball is also effective for stimulating and helping to stretch your foot. Some people also find pain relief from the application of ice packs or packs of frozen peas wrapped in a towel every few hours. For those still looking to keep fit and active, swimming or cycling is an ideal form of non-weight bearing exercise.

Important things to try and avoid are long periods on your feet, walking barefoot (particularly on hard surfaces) and any footwear that is backless such as flip-flops or sandals. Whether Plantar Fasciitis is a condition you’re able to successfully manage and treat at home or whether you need the advice and support of an orthopaedic foot and ankle specialist, effective treatment is nearly always a combination of understanding and managing the mechanics of your foot and treating the problem area. In persistent painful cases a steroid injection or extra-corporeal shockwave treatment might be needed to help combat inflammation. Extra-corporeal shockwave treatment is a well recognised, successful and safe treatment option which stimulates the soft tissue to heal within a short period of time. 

Sufferers generally make a full recovery but it is important to remember that often there is a specific reason why people develop Plantar Fasciitis in the first place. This is the key reason why seeking the help of a medical professional is a good idea, to help ascertain the root cause of the problem and prevent it from recurring further down the road.

Many problems in the foot and ankle can be associated with problems “higher up” in the leg. In particular, the gastrocnemius muscle plays an important role and can be linked to many foot and ankle pathologies. The gastrocnemius muscle is the biggest muscle in the lower leg and together with the soleus muscle forms the Achilles tendon.

High heeled shoes and prolonged periods of sitting at a desk can be linked to reduced flexibility of the calf. Often a genetic predisposition is responsible for the reduced “dorsiflexion” of the ankle/foot which means one has not enough movement “upwards”. This tightness can lead to many common problems in particular Achilles tendinopathies, plantar fasciitis, forefoot overload, hallux valgus and hallux rigidus, stress fractures, metatarsalgia and sesamoiditis. A dedicated stretching regime is essential in order to improve the flexibility of the calf muscle. In a few cases this may not prove sufficient and if symptoms persist a minor operation can be performed either on its own or in association with other operations to eliminate the problem. This so-called “proximal gastroc release” is a very small operation where the “tight portion” of the gastrocnemius muscle (aponeurosis) is cut which then allows the muscle to stretch appropriately. The procedure is done as a day case and does not need any “protection” afterwards. Patients can walk unaided and after a few days of rest can resume most activities again.

Martin Klinke is a leading foot and ankle specialist and available for appointments at leading centres in London.

Lesser toe deformities are a common problem and often associated with big toe deformities. The lesser toes are linked to the foot by multiple soft tissue structures, the strongest one is on the sole of the foot and is called the plantar plate.

With forefoot overload, this structure can rupture and until recently this problem was very difficult to treat. Detecting this pathology with the help of thorough clinical examination and an MRI scan can lead to a successful repair of this important stabiliser of the toe joints. Special techniques and dedicated instruments now allow to repair the plantar plate. This means that the plantar plate is re-attached to the toe, therefore, the function of the toe is preserved.

This makes extensive and “debilitating” forefoot surgery unnecessary.

Are you suffering from pain or problems with your feet, contact me today.

Pain in the big toe joint can be caused by inappropriate footwear, big toe deformity, inflammation in the joint or some wear and tear in the joint. Once cartilage is damaged it does not grow back. This can lead to arthritis in the big toe joint called hallux rigidus. When conservative treatment has failed, surgery becomes an option. In milder forms of degeneration, one can perform a cheilectomy which removes prominent bone and any inflammation in the joint. In the more severe cases, a fusion of the big toe joint becomes necessary. This means the joint is made stiff and does not move.

For a few years now a new implant has become available that provides another successful treatment option. The so-called Cartiva implant “resurfaces” part of the joint, it helps to reduce the pain further and preserves the range of motion. This implant is a synthetic substance similar to the one used in contact lenses. Implanting the device does not need a lot of bone resection but is rather a “resurfacing” of the joint. So far, short and midterm results have been very good, reducing the need for a fusion substantially. The Cartiva implant is associated with very high patient satisfaction rate.

If you are suffering from pain in the big toe joint, contact me today.