3.8 Review

The symptomatic and functional effects of manual physical therapy on plantar heel pain: a systematic review

Journal

JOURNAL OF MANUAL & MANIPULATIVE THERAPY
Volume 25, Issue 1, Pages 3-10

Publisher

ROUTLEDGE JOURNALS, TAYLOR & FRANCIS LTD
DOI: 10.1080/10669817.2015.1106818

Keywords

Heel pain; Foot pain; Plantar fasciitis; Manual therapy

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Objectives: Plantar heel pain is common and can be severely disabling. Unfortunately, a gap in the literature exists regarding the optimal intervention for this painful condition. Consequently, a systematic review of the current literature regarding manual therapy for the treatment of plantar heel pain was performed. Methods: A computer- assisted literature search for randomized controlled trials in MEDLINE, EMBASE, Cochrane, CINAHL, and Rehabilitation & Sports Medicine Source, was concluded on 7 January 2014. After identification of titles, three independent reviewers selected abstracts and then full- text articles for review. Results: Eight articles were selected for the final review and underwent PEDro scale assessment for quality. Heterogeneity of the articles did not allow for quantitative analysis. Only two studies scored >= 7/10 on the PEDro scale and included joint, soft tissue, and neural mobilization techniques. These two studies showed statistically greater symptomatic and functional outcomes in the manual therapy group. Discussion: This review suggests that manual therapy is effective in the treatment of plantar heel pain; however, further research is needed to validate these findings given the preponderance of low quality studies.

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