Are those first few steps of the day after getting out of bed causing you pain?
Or have you been busy working at your desk, and then your heel pain flares up when you get up to walk?
You may be experiencing what is commonly referred to as plantar fasciitis. This occurs due to an increase in load on your feet causing an irritation of your plantar fascia. This can be from an increased amount of standing, walking, running, or sporting activities.
The plantar fascia is a broad band of connective tissue along the sole of the foot that supports our it during walking and standing. When this tissue causes pain, it is commonly called plantar fasciitis. Conditions ending in “-itis” often refer to something that is inflamed. However, inflammation does not tend to be involved, as it is more of an overload of the tissues. Due to this, it is now referred to as plantar heel pain.
To manage plantar heel pain, for short-term symptomatic relief you need to stretch the plantar fascia and calves. For longer term results you need strengthening to increase the tissue’s capacity to withstand load from the activities that irritate it. Below, I will go through several exercises that you can perform to assist in reducing your foot pain.
Stretching:
Big Toe Extension / Plantar Fascia Stretch
- While sitting, rest the foot to be stretched on your other knee.
- Hold your heel with one hand, and grasp your big toe with the other.
- Bend your big toe back towards your shin.
- You should feel a stretch through the sole of your foot.
- Hold for up to 30 seconds, two or more times. This can be repeated many times throughout the day, particularly if you have been stationary for some time.
Calf Stretch with sole of foot on Wall
- Stand with the toes of your affected foot against a wall and your heel on the ground.
- With a slight bend of the knee, push it towards the wall to stretch the sole of your foot and your calf muscle.
- Hold for up to 30 seconds, two or more times.
Ball Massage
- This self-massage technique requires a massage ball (e.g., spiky ball, hard rubber ball, or tennis ball).
- Rest the sole of your foot on top of the massage ball.
- While applying pressure, gently roll the ball along the sole of your foot. You can focus the massage along three lengths of the foot: the inner arch, midline, and outer arch.
- Roll the ball along the foot for up to 90 seconds.
- The massage can then be repeated the same way with your toes extended towards your shin. This will increase the tension of the plantar fascia, giving a deeper massage.
- Perform this within tolerable pain limits.
Strengthening:
An exercise to improve your plantar heel pain is the calf or heel raise. To get the most benefit out of this exercise, we need to ensure that you perform this with good ankle alignment. This can be achieved by focusing on raising your heel from your big toe. This ensures a straight ankle that does not shift out to the side.
Calf Raise
- Standing on both legs, raise your heels off the ground onto your toes as high as you can.
- Return to the starting position.
- This can be performed as a hold (e.g., up to 30 seconds for 3-5 repetitions) or repeated movement (e.g., 2-3 sets of 8-12 repetitions).
Once this is performed with control, we can increase the focus on the plantar fascia by propping the big toe up into extension with a small rolled-up towel.
Calf Raise with Toe Extension
- Roll up a small hand towel and place the big toe of your affected foot on it to have it extended.
- While standing, raise your heels off the ground onto your toes as high as you can.
- Return to the starting position.
- This can be performed as a hold (e.g., up to 30 seconds for 3-5 repetitions) or repeated movement (e.g., 2-3 sets of 8-12 repetitions).
If you are experiencing plantar fasciitis or foot pain, our osteopaths offer a plantar fasciitis recovery program. More information on this program can be found here.
This article is for information purposes only. Please consult your CHH primary healthcare professional for further information.