Efficacy of Short Wave and Laser Therapy in Patients With Plantar Fasciitis (Blind assessor)

Efficacy of Extracorporeal Shock Wave Therapy Versus High-intensity Laser Therapy in Patients With Plantar Fasciitis

Plantar fasciitis is a common painful condition. It accounts for 10-15% of all foot painful conditions. Recently, Extracorporeal shock wave therapy (ESWT) was used as an effective method in treatment of different musculoskeletal disorders. High-intensity laser therapy (HILT) is a relatively recent treatment option that has shown benefits in a wide range of musculoskeletal disorders.

Study Overview

• Status: Active, not recruiting
• Conditions: Plantar Fasciitis, Chronic
• Intervention / Treatment: Other: conventional physical therapy; Other: Extracorporeal shock wave therapy; Other: High-intensity laser therapy

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Estimated): 60
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• Saudi Arabia
  • Mecca Region
    • Mecca, Mecca Region, Saudi Arabia, 24211
      • Mecca

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: Adult
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• 1. Patients will be included according to the diagnostic criteria for plantar fasciitis of the American physical therapy association (APTA) (Martin et al., 2014). This criterion includes pain in medial sole and heel of foot: most pronounced in initial steps after a period of inactivity, it also worsens after prolonged weight bearing, pain during palpation and compression of proximal plantar fascia, limited range of motion in active and passive ankle dorsiflexion, positive windlass test.

  2. Patients will be referred from an orthopedic surgeon with confirmed diagnosis of plantar fasciitis (Bidoki et al., 2024).

  3. Patients with chronic plantar fasciitis (Duration of patient's symptoms will be more than three months) (Riaz et al., 2023).

  4. Patients' age will range from 18 to 45 years (Bidoki et al., 2024). 5. Both genders (Riaz et al., 2023). 6. Localized non radiating foot pain with an NPRS more than 5 on the first step in the morning (Riaz et al., 2023).

Exclusion Criteria:

• Patients will be excluded if they present any of the following criteria

  1. History of previous surgery of plantar fasciitis (Riaz et al., 2023).
  2. History of previous corticosteroid injections (Bidoki et al., 2024).
  3. History of heel pain due to previous trauma or calcaneus stress fracture in the last 3 months (Bidoki et al., 2024).
  4. History of previous lumbar spine surgery (Bidoki et al., 2024).
  5. History of rheumatologic disease (rheumatoid arthritis, diffuse idiopathic skeletal hyperostosis, systemic lupus erythematosus, gout, Sjogren disease, enthesopathy, etc…) (Bidoki et al., 2024).
  6. Pregnancy, pacemaker fitted or bleeding disorders (Bidoki et al., 2024).
  7. Wounds, infections or tumors in the treatment area (Bidoki et al., 2024).

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Treatment
• Allocation: Randomized
• Interventional Model: Single Group Assignment
• Masking: Single

Number of Arms

3

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Control group; Group (A)	Other: conventional physical therapy; exercise
Experimental: Extracorporeal shock wave therapy; Group (B)	Other: Extracorporeal shock wave therapy; ESWT
Experimental: High-intensity laser therapy; Group (C)	Other: High-intensity laser therapy; HILT

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Hand held dynamometer	Hand held dynamometer is a portable device, characterized as a low-cost and convenience to assess muscle strength in a clinical setting	6 weeks
Ultrasonography	Ultrasonography is a type of medical imaging device that uses high-frequency sound (ultrasound) waves to produce images of internal organs and other tissues such as tendons, muscles, joints, blood vessels, and internal organs, to measure some characteristics	6 weeks
Arabic version of foot function index (FFI-Ar)	Foot functional index is a self-administered index consisting of 23 items divided into 3 subcategories on the basis of: pain, disability and activity limitation.	6 weeks
Arabic version of numerical pain rating scale (NPRS-Ar)	The Numerical Rating Scale is an 11-point (0-10) Scale that measures pain intensity, it is considered a very sensitive pain assessment scale.	6 weeks

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Ibrahim Abuomar Fadulaalhq Alramadhani

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): June 1, 2026
• Primary Completion (Actual): June 1, 2026
• Study Completion (Estimated): July 1, 2026

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: May 7, 2026
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: June 23, 2026
• First Posted (Actual): June 26, 2026

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): June 26, 2026
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: June 23, 2026
• Last Verified: June 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Musculoskeletal Diseases; Foot Diseases; Fasciitis; Fasciitis, Plantar; Therapeutics; Physical Therapy Modalities; Rehabilitation; Ultrasonic Therapy; Diathermy; Hyperthermia, Induced; Extracorporeal Shockwave Therapy
• Other Study ID Numbers: P.T.REC/012/006509

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: NO
• IPD Plan Description: Because it is top secrets for them and they refused.

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No