Will plantar fasciitis go away on its own?

Plantar fasciitis and heel pain in general can seem to go away on it’s own without treatment, sometimes briefly and sometimes for months or years.  This is not due so much as to an actual healing of the condition as much as it is due to a decrease in the inflammation that causes the pain.  The plantar fascia itself remains strained and thickened from chronic damage, and has a sort of baseline level inflammation.  Most commonly, the plantar fascia simply stays ‘quiet’ until some event causes more inflammation to develop, bringing about pain again.  This is the scenario that most people have when their heel pain comes and goes over a long period of time.  If the damage becomes so severe that the plantar fascia actually ruptures, the strain on the fascia may cease for good once the body actually heals form the rupture.  While this may sound like a good result out of a bad injury, the truth is that an uncontrolled rupture (in other words, non-surgical) can destabilize the foot and eventually cause further problems.  Medical reduction of the inflammation until it is resolved, followed by fascia support with shoe inserts is still the best way to bring about a long term ‘cure’ for this condition.