Many people identify plantar fasciitis as a heel pain that occurs when they first set foot on the floor in the morning or after they have been sitting for a while. The problem is your calf, not your foot. Essentially, if your calves are too tight, so is your plantar fascia because they are both “connected” through the calcaneus or the heel bone. The plantar fascia, the flat band of tissue that connects your heel bone to your toes, tends to be the “weak link” and can get strained, becoming chronically inflamed, and generally irrated. This can be experienced as a pain in the bottom of your foot, or your heel when you stand or walk.

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When it comes to treating plantar fasciitis, as well as many other foot and ankle problems, Amis says “generally speaking, treating the foot, the plantar fasciitis, is exactly why we fail so often”. Dr Amis contends that “what the majority of my colleagues don’t understand is that over time, a calf that is too tight will have far reaching and negative effects on many areas of the foot and ankle, causing increased mechanical stress on bone, joints, tendons and ligaments.”

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But few of Dr. Amis’ peers share his conviction that the calf is the actual problem. Yet these same doctors will schedule surgery to “lengthen the Achilles tendon” to alleviate foot pain in lieu of safer and just as effective calf stretching. Furthermore, even after six months, even years of heel pain, a program that stretches the calf can still eliminate the pain. Dr. Amis says, “the reason so many people fail to improve during the standard six month ‘conservative treatment’ time frame is because they totally miss the mark treating the foot. Even if stretching is done it is not done long or often enough; it is not the central focus of any conservative treatment plan.”

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Dr. Amis goes on to say that when he talks about stretching he “isn’t talking about the stretching you do before and after exercise, but instead it must be focused gastrocnemius stretching done consistently everyday and with proper form away from exercise. All of this is made easy with The One Stretch.”