Plantar Fasciitis and the Horse’s Tail

 This article is courtesy of Karen Ball and the Academy of Ancient Reflexology

The spinal cord ends at the lower part of the thoracic spine. It doesn’t actually run through the lower back. The cord originates at the base of the brain, extends down through the bony canal of the cervical and thoracic vertebrae to then branch out into a “horse’s tail” of nerve roots (known as the cauda equina). These nerve roots then innervate all the muscles and organs of the lower half of the body.

Compression on a low back nerve root, either where it exits the spinal column or within a muscle of the hips, legs and/or feet can cause discomfort and pain anywhere along that route. The two nerve roots most commonly pinched in the lower back are L5 and S1. It is the S1 nerve root that can be implicated in plantar fasciitis.

The S1 nerve root and its branches run through 34 muscles. Compression on the nerves can cause weakness, numbness, pain and/or reduced function. In instances where plantar fasciitis has not responded satisfactorily to treatment on just the feet it can be pressure on the S1 nerves holding back full recovery. Releasing compression on the entire S1 nerve root path is often the key.

Reflexology can be part of the relief program for plantar fasciitis.