The plantar fascia has many functions. It provides support and structure to the longitudinal arch of the foot. It provides an attachment for the intrinsic foot musculature. It integrates skin and toe mobility into the gait cycle. And, it protects the distal neurovascular bundle, tendons and muscles from the metatarsal heads during gait.

Inflammation of the [...]

The plantar fascia is a strong, thick sheet of connective tissue in the sole of the foot. It incorporates itself into the muscles of the plantar aspect of the foot. Plantar fascia has superficial and deep components. The superficial fascia is thick, it contains significant amounts of fat which helps it to provide padding for [...]

A review of the literature demonstrates the effectiveness of various treatment options. Oztas, Turan, Bora and Karakaya (1998) studied the effectiveness of continuous ultrasound. It was discovered that there was no improvement in subjective symptoms, but there was a negative effect on motor nerve velocity, implying that ultrasound has a deleterious effect on carpal tunnel [...]

Differential diaganoses include proximal median nerve compression, tendonitis, cervical pathology, cubital tunnel syndrome, and reflexive sympathetic dystrophy. The physician may opt for nerve conduction studies; EMG studies; MRI; ultrasound; radiographical studies for contributing diseases such as previous injury, arthritis, or tumors; and/or blood tests for rheumatoid arthritis and thyroid disease.
There are many rehab [...]

The physical evaluation for carpal tunnel syndrome should consist of the subjective assessment and a complete objective examination. Subjective reports normally consist of parasthesia, numbness, and/or burning in the median nerve distribution of the hand, pain worsening at night, occasional radiating pain distally into the hand or proximally into the arm, and hand weakness. [...]

The flexor pollicis longus and the flexor carpi radialis tendons lie outside, but adjacent to, the carpal tunnel and may play a role in median nerve compression if inflamed. Narrowing of the carpal tunnel by inflammation and/or edema of the contents creates compression on the median nerve. This results in symptoms of pain, parasthesia or [...]

The carpal tunnel is made up of carpal bones on the floor of the tunnel, and the flexor retinaculum as the roof of the tunnel. The flexor retinaculum is a thick fascia, which is approximately four square centimeters in size, and it attaches to the pisiform and the hook of the hammate [...]