Plantar Fasciitis Treatment – 3 Tips From A Podiatrist Which May Help
Plantar fasciitis is the most common cause of heel pain we see.
It normally causes pain under the heel with the first few steps after rest and may extend into the arch. It will often be worst in the morning or after significant periods of rest, when you first stand and for the first few steps and is often painful at the end of the day especially after a long day on the feet. Most cases will be worse with activity or prolonged standing, while resting can improve the pain level. If you think you might have plantar fasciitis then here a three tips which may help to try and ease the discomfort:
1. A plantar fascia stretch (or tennis ball massage)
Plantar fasciitis is due to inflammation in the ligament under the bottom of your heel due usually as a result of minor tears or over stretching. Therefore if it is tight, it is more likely to have increased damage. So how do you stretch your plantar fascia?
There a many ways to stretch or loosen the plantar fascia, but my favourite and simplest is to get a tennis ball, place this on the ground and in a sitting position, roll your foot over the tennis ball. You want enough downward force to have an uncomfortable stretch or massage sensation, but it shouldn’t be too painful, you don’t want to do any further damage.
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Concentrate through the inside arch and heel area, but just generally massage all the bottom of the foot with the tennis ball. Some people use a frozen water or coke bottle rather than a tennis ball, this may help as well and the ice may also help with some pain relief. However, I find I can’t get up into the arch as well due to the shape of the bottle. Some people even use a golf ball, which I recommend using once the tennis ball has become very easy to tolerate and is no longer hard enough to give you a stretch. The golf ball can be too hard initially for most people. What ever you choose to use, do this for a couple of minutes at least once a day on both feet, even if the other foot isn’t painful. All stretches should be done both sides to help keep things even.
2. A calf stretch
The calf plays a very important role in how the plantar fascia works. If your calf is tight this will put more pressure on the plantar fascia. So stretch it. Be careful with stretching though – the wrong technique can make things worse rather than better. So if your pain increases – STOP. Give us a call or book an appointment and we can assess your problem more thoroughly and offer more personalised, specific advice.
Where a lot of people go wrong with stretches is they stretch for 15 seconds and think: done! This doesn’t work, because our body has something called a stretch reflex. When we stretch, our body contracts against it to make sure the muscle doesn’t get hurt. You have to get past this before a stretch will work. So I suggest holding this stretch for at least 1 minute, however, 2 minutes is best. Remember – stretching should NOT be painful – stretch to the point of strain – NOT PAIN. Over time you will notice stretching, flexibility and movement should improve.
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3. Footwear
Wear supportive footwear as much as possible. I suggest sneakers are often the best.
Most people can’t be in sneakers all the time, so just be in the best footwear you can. The thing to remember is also around home, lots of people tend to go barefoot, wear slippers, slips ons, etc. But often we are still up on our feet a lot around home when we are cooking, cleaning and performing daily chores. So I suggest changing into your sneakers when you get home until you sit down and rest for the night. This added support and cushioning can make a big difference.
What Other Plantar Fasciitis Treatment Might Help?
These are just three simple tips among many things that can be done to help plantar fasciitis, but are things you can try at home. If you continue to struggle with plantar fasciitis make a time to see one of our Podiatrists who are foot and heel pain experts. We have access to many different treatment modalities which can help resolve plantar fasciitis heel pain. For further plantar fasciitis treatment details, visit our Plantar Fasciitis Explained webpage.
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