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Foot Pain or Foot Tightness Keeping You Down?

   Tuesday, April 14, 2020

   Competitive Edge

Does the bottom of your foot ever sound or feel crunchy when touching it? Do you suffer from pain on the arch of your foot in the morning when getting out of bed? Is it hard to walk and does that sometimes cause heel pain?

If you answered YES to any of the above, you might be suffering from plantar fasciitis.

What is a plantar fascia? It is a connective tissue that runs the length of the bottom of your foot, by helping maintain the arch of your foot when walking or running. This makes it an important structure to help facilitate proper walking and running mechanics!

How does plantar fasciitis happen?

When you increase the amount of walking, or do too much with improper mechanics, it can cause injury to the plantar fascia. There can also be underlying issues coming from your knee or your hip – crazy! On the other hand, you might remember a specific injury to your ankle, which could have resulted in an acute injury to the plantar fascia.

What can I do to decrease the foot pain at home?!

Certainly, there are a couple stretches can be done at home which could help decrease some of the foot pain or foot tightness:

Firstly, the standing calf stretch
  • Standing calf stretch
    • Standing facing a wall, place both hands on the wall in front of you
    • Choose a leg to stretch first, and extend it behind you
    • Your back leg should be straight at the knee, and the whole foot should be on the ground (ensuring your heel is flat on the ground)
    • If you’re unable to have your knee straight with the heel on the ground, then bring the back leg closer to you – this will get easier as you continue to do this stretch
    • Hold for 20-30 seconds
    • Switch legs
    • Repeat 2-3 times on each leg
Secondly, rolling the bottom of your foot
  • Rolling the bottom of your foot (your plantar fascia)
    • Take a golf ball or lacrosse ball or frozen water bottle
    • In a seated position (less intense) or a standing position (more intense)
    • Start at the heel of your foot with the ball or water bottle, and slowly move the object to your toes
    • You might hear or feel some crunching – which is normal!
    • Roll the bottom of your foot from the heel to your toe pads, 4-5 times
    • Repeat on the other foot

This is a good start for what you can do at home to help alleviate some of the foot pain you may be experiencing! Often times, there are other underlying issues which can cause plantar fasciitis, for instance, biomechanical compensations, and this can be caused by years of compensation patterns being developed elsewhere in the body.

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If you are looking for more information on how to alleviate and resolve your foot pain or foot tightness, you can apply to speak with a therapist below!

 

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