Laser Treatments Might Help Your Heel Pain Caused By Plantar Fasciitis

If you've been struggling with heel pain from plantar fasciitis, and your condition isn't healing, talk to your foot doctor about laser therapy. Laser treatments might speed the healing process and provide pain relief. Here's how lasers work, and the two types of lasers your foot doctor can try.

How Lasers Help Heel Pain

Lasers reduce swelling in your heel that's caused by inflammation, and they also reduce pain. You could feel noticeable pain relief after just one laser treatment. The laser heats up your tissues, and this increases blood flow to the area. Nutrients and oxygen are carried in the blood to the injured tissues where they can further assist with tissue repair.

Because lasers reduce inflammation, you may not need to take as much medication to get relief from your heel pain. Plus, laser treatment is more affordable than some other treatments that can be given for plantar fasciitis and heel pain. This makes laser treatments a good place to start when your foot doctor develops a treatment plan for your pain. However, each case of heel pain is unique. Yours might respond better to a different type of treatment or to laser treatments combined with other therapies.

How Cold Lasers Work On Pain

Your foot doctor might try using a cold laser on your heel. A cold laser is capable of reducing swelling and relieving pain, but you won't feel much heat from it. This makes a cold laser the most comfortable option to endure. There are different types of cold lasers, so you'll need to use the type your foot doctor has in the office. Lasers can be used to treat a variety of foot pain conditions, although treating heel pain is a common reason behind laser treatments.

Hot Lasers Work On Deeper Tissues

Your foot doctor might prefer to use a hot laser on your heel pain. This type of laser generates heat, and it can be uncomfortable to undergo a treatment with a hot laser. Your doctor might prefer the hot laser because it is capable of penetrating deeper into your heel to reach the source of pain. Both hot and cold lasers have been shown to reduce heel pain, and they have been approved by the FDA, so your insurance company may even pay for the treatments.

A laser treatment session could only last minutes, but that's determined by the size of the treatment area. Also, expect to need multiple treatment sessions. Your foot doctor develops a treatment plan that includes the number of expected treatments spread out over several weeks. The goal of laser treatments is to speed healing in a pain-free way that reduces the need for drugs. The laser helps your heel recover rather than just cover up the problem with temporary pain relief.

For more information, reach out to a local foot doctor.