Washington Nat's Jordan Zimmerman Sidelined with Plantar Fasciitis

Nat's 1st baseman Jordan Zimmerman was recently sidelined with plantar fasciitis.A pro athlete has little time for recovery during the season. Pictured here is an ultrasound of my foot when I had a case of fasciitis last year. What you would like to see the fascia look like strands of spaghetti. Mine has some of that but there is also a dark signal indicating on going plantar fasciitis. If you look at the two lines coming off the white curve that looks like a hill that is where the fascia originates off the heel bone. On top of the fascia about mid way the lines are not as clear indicative of degeneration. Some of my patients have a fusiform or cigar shape which indicates more swelling and degeneration. When I am evaluating athletes that are looking to return to sports I check to see if there is any opening up of the tissue when I punt stress on it suggestive of a tear. It is a great way to monitor there progress of healing. It is the better than an X-Ray study to get to evaluate a sports heel injury that has the classic morning pain and plantar medial heel pain. An X-ray will show the bone structure better but will not show you the fascia composition, tearing, fat degeneration and muscle swelling I ended up hurting my lower back playing soccer which forced me to take a break. . The moment occurred leaning over tie my cleats. What set me up was the soccer games going all out the day before and not unwinding my back with some stabilizing exercises after. The injury has helped my fascia heel because it has forced me to slow down playing and I have only played for an hour or so a couple times. My chiropractor suggested I skip yoga and work on pelvic tilts for my back and stop biking hills for a while. The forced rest will continue to help my fascia heal. I wore an FS6 Fascia Sock and my orthotics in my cleats and shoes. Zimmerman will benefit from this period of rest and is probably getting a lot of physical therapy.