Alex's Anatomy and Physiology Education: More Effective Joint

I decided to do my design on plantar fasciitis as it is an injury that affects me and my family line every generation. Although I already had a basic idea of what plantar fasciitis is, I first decided to begin my research by researching the basics of the injury, such as how it is defined and what causes the injury. I then decided to work backwards by researching the injuries of plantar fasciitis, and what modifications are needed to prevent such injuries. I decided to connect my knowledge from units before such as blood supply and apply it to the new modifications of the plantar fascia. After realizing that we cannot modify our bodies, I did extensive research on preventing such injuries to live a happy and healthy life.
Plantar fasciitis usually occurs to people with flat feet, but can also occur to runners and obese people. It is involved with the plantar fascia, a thick band of tissue which is a ligament, that runs across the foot and is connected to the calcaneus (heel bone). To fix the problem of plantar fasciitis, I decided to remodel the ligament that is the main cause of the injury, the plantar fascia. The plantar fascia stretches from the medial calcaneal tubercle towards the proximal phalanges of the toes. The fibrous tissue then divides into five sections to accommodate for the five toes we humans have on each foot. The main function of the plantar fascia is to help maintain the arch of the foot. During athletic activities such as walking or running, the main contribution of the plantar fascia is to assure that both the heel and toes lift off the ground and prevent the calcaneus from everting, stabilizing the arch in the process. As mentioned before, the plantar fascia is heavily involved in basic activities such as walking, running, and standing. These activities however, can create tiny micro tears to the plantar fascia, and as a result cause inflammation of the ligament. These injuries are proven common to runners who strain their plantar fascia due to the consistent pressure, overweight people as the weight forces the arch of the foot to collapse, and flat-footed people as they have no support, causing the plantar fascia to be in constant contact and pressure on the ground. When designing a new feature to the plantar fascia, I decided that if there were more blood vessels added to the ligament, this would provide enough oxygen and nutrients that it would prevent micro tears from occurring in the plantar fascia. Another design feature to prevent the injury would be connecting the plantar fascia to the achilles tendon, allowing a supportive system from the leg and having the ligament react the same to stimulants as the achilles tendon. Young people already have their plantar fascia connected to their achilles tendon, but as we age the connective tissue between the two degenerate and become their own muscles. I arrived at this idea knowing that blood in our body is the number one source of providing nutrients and oxygen to the body. If we could increase the capacity of blood volume being transported to stressed areas, such as in the plantar fascia, we can prevent them from tearing and inflaming which can cause injury. As for connecting the plantar fascia to the achilles tendon, we already have this as a feature while we're young. However, as aging occurs the tissue degenerates as I have said before. If there were a way to prevent connective tissue from being destroyed as we age, we could be able to provide a supporting system to the plantar fascia from the leg. One problem with this new design however is that the connective tissue between the plantar fascia and the achilles tendon would make the foot uneven in balance, and as a result put more strain and stress on other parts of the foot other than the arch. After completing this assignment, I question whether it is possible to perform such new designs on the human body to prevent these injuries or diseases. Although the designs seem as if they are out of a science fiction piece, I truly wonder if it is possible that scientists can control human evolution to specifically cater towards these injuries. Or would our bodies eventually realize these injuries directly affecting the human body, and would they attempt to evolve over time instead of artificial evolution? Since we can not redesign our body instantly to prevent such injuries, we have to take cautionary measures to assure that no such injuries occur so that we may lead a happy, healthy life. One way to prevent plantar fasciitis is to utilize heel cord stretching, which would unload stress in the foot and reduce pain. This would stretch the fascia directly, strengthening it from future tears. Losing weight would also exert less pressure on the arch, allowing it to be supported rather than collapsed. Wearing shoes with great arch support and cushioning can also prevent plantar fasciitis as it alleviates stress and pain on the foot. Wearing night splints, which are casts around the ankle to the toes, are effective in reforming the foot to be away from chronic pain. Foot orthotics, which you can buy over the counter or prescribed from your doctor, can help reshape feet to be arched instead of flat, which would reduce stress on the plantar fascia.