Soft Tissue Mobilization Treatment Strategies in Chronic Plantar Fasciitis: A Narrative Review

Abstract

Plantar fasciitis is a non-inflammatory, degenerative condition of the plantar fascia caused by recurrent stress.
Obesity, limited ankle joint range of motion, extended weight bearing, and advancing age are all considered
to be contributing causes to the problem. Manual Therapy plays a crucial role in treating patients with Chronic
Plantar Fasciitis, there is need to explore the various soft tissue mobilization treatment options available as
treatment for plantar fasciitis. Searches were conducted on PubMed, PEDro, and SCOPUS databases; RCTs
enrolling patients with Chronic Plantar Fasciitis were included in this review. Language of articles is limited to
English only. The reference lists for all retrieved research papers were also searched. Boolean Operators Terms
or, not, and were used to extract relevant data. According to data retrieved from moderate to high quality
evidence, Soft Tissue Release, Stretching of Plantar Fascia and tissue mobilization is highly effective in pain
reduction and to enhance functional range as compared to other physiotherapy treatment strategies available
in treating patients with Chronic Plantar Fasciitis in long term.