Can a placenta jab soothe sore heels?

POWDERED placenta could be an unlikely new treatment for painful feet.

Scientists at the Five Cities Foot Clinic in California, in the US, are testing dried amniotic membrane, the innermost layer of the placenta, on 164 patients suffering from plantar fasciitis. This is where the band of tissue that runs from the heel along the length of the sole of the foot becomes inflamed and swollen. Plantar fasciitis is the most common cause of heel pain.

The donated placenta is mixed with saline to make it injectable.

One theory is that the anti-inflammatories in placenta — identified in previous studies — will work to reduce pain.