05/31/2026
Is it Plantar Fasciitis or is it Baxter's Neuropathy?
Let's look at both:
Plantar Fasciitis- commonly heard about in foot support commercials.
Pain is felt as soon as you step out of bed.
It's typically due to overuse and repetitive stress to the thick connective tissue in the bottom of your feet.
If you look at the bottom of your foot in the mirror and think of it like a tree, the plantar fascia would be the trunk and the heel (calcaneus) the base of the tree.
This is an area that shortens during sleep, the first few steps cause microtears, pain, inflammation... ice is your best friend.
Roll your foot over a frozen water bottle gently for about 5 minutes while getting ready for the day.
Baxter's Neuropathy-(Distal Tarsal Tunnel Syndrome). Not commonly heard about but has many of the same symptoms.
It hurts when the heal strikes the ground, feeling of pins and needles, general lower leg achiness. Can happenat anytime of day or constant.
Baxter's Nerve is a small, superficial branch of the tibial nerve via the lateral plantar nerve. It's tunnel is made up of abductor hallucis and quadratus plantae.
This nerve gets entrapped or impinged on the inside of the heal (medial) and causes pain across the bottom of your foot with weakness in the pinky toe reducing the ability to abduct.
Both will eventually cause you to change your gait (the way you walk) and throw off your low back if not addressed.
TACT: Therapeutic Active Cupping Techniques help to decompress the areas of entrapment and create space for impingement adjustments.
How? Instead of pressing into an area that is already compressed use negative pressure and decompress the area to encourage healing.
These are not deep tissue techniques and as a client, you may not feel like anything is happening.
Gentle work is needed to not further disrupt an already overstimulated nerve branch with Baxter's. Gentle work is needed to reduce pain in PF.
It's what you won't feel... pain. And what you will avoid... chronic posture issues.
There is a lot more involved in treatment for both conditions. These can include nerve gliding, physical therapy and massage therapy. If none of these help to resolve symptoms, injections and possible surgery would be the next route. Avoiding lots of OTC pain meds is important to your general health. So even if you "can take a pill and get through the day" you are not fixing the issue, you are exasperating it.
To schedule an appointment, contact Missy at 941-488-5553 or online at www.venicechiro.com
To register for a workshop, visit www.chrissystiteslmt.com.
To schedule a workshop, email [email protected].
