Plantar fasciitis is usually diagnosed by a health care provider after consideration of a person's presenting history, risk factors, and clinical examination.
Palpation along the inner aspect of the heel bone on the sole may elicit tenderness during the physical examination.
The foot may have limited dorsiflexion due to excessive tightness of the calf muscles or the Achilles tendon.
Dorsiflexion of the foot may elicit the pain due to stretching of the plantar fascia with this motion.
Diagnostic imaging studies are not usually needed to diagnose plantar fasciitis.
Occasionally, a physician may decide imaging studies (such as X-rays, diagnostic ultrasound, or MRI) are warranted to rule out serious causes of foot pain.

Other diagnoses that are typically considered include fractures, tumors, or systemic disease if plantar fasciitis pain fails to respond appropriately to conservative medical treatments.
Bilateral heel pain or heel pain in the context of a systemic illness may indicate a need for a more in-depth diagnostic investigation.
Under these circumstances, diagnostic tests such as a CBC or serological markers of inflammation, infection, or autoimmune disease such as C-reactive protein, erythrocyte sedimentation rate, anti-nuclear antibodies, rheumatoid factor, HLA-B27, uric acid, or Lyme disease antibodies may also be obtained.
Neurological deficits may prompt an investigation with electromyography to check for damage to the nerves or muscles.

An incidental finding associated with this condition is a heel spur, a small bony calcification on the calcaneus (heel bone), which can be found in up to 50% of those with plantar fasciitis.
In such cases, it is the underlying plantar fasciitis that produces the heel pain, and not the spur itself.
The condition is responsible for the creation of the spur though the clinical significance of heel spurs in plantar fasciitis remains unclear.
Plantar fasciitis is usually diagnosed by a health care provider after consideration of a person's presenting history, risk factors, and clinical examination. Palpation along the inner aspect of the heel bone on the sole may elicit tenderness during the physical examination. The foot may have limited dorsiflexion due to excessive tightness of the calf muscles or the Achilles tendon. Dorsiflexion of the foot may elicit the pain due to stretching of the plantar fascia with this motion. Diagnostic imaging studies are not usually needed to diagnose plantar fasciitis. Occasionally, a physician may decide imaging studies (such as X-rays, diagnostic ultrasound, or MRI) are warranted to rule out serious causes of foot pain.
Other diagnoses that are typically considered include fractures, tumors, or systemic disease if plantar fasciitis pain fails to respond appropriately to conservative medical treatments. Bilateral heel pain or heel pain in the context of a systemic illness may indicate a need for a more in-depth diagnostic investigation. Under these circumstances, diagnostic tests such as a CBC or serological markers of inflammation, infection, or autoimmune disease such as C-reactive protein, erythrocyte sedimentation rate, anti-nuclear antibodies, rheumatoid factor, HLA-B27, uric acid, or Lyme disease antibodies may also be obtained. Neurological deficits may prompt an investigation with electromyography to check for damage to the nerves or muscles.
An incidental finding associated with this condition is a heel spur, a small bony calcification on the calcaneus (heel bone), which can be found in up to 50% of those with plantar fasciitis. In such cases, it is the underlying plantar fasciitis that produces the heel pain, and not the spur itself. The condition is responsible for the creation of the spur though the clinical significance of heel spurs in plantar fasciitis remains unclear.
Plantar fasciitis