Watch this video to learn some simple tips and exercises to help alleviate the foot pain from plantar fasciitis. This usually presents as foot pain or heel pain.
Hi, this is Dana Ranahan from Body Works Sports Physiotherapy in North Vancouver and I’m here today to talk a bit more about plantar fasciitis.
We put out a video recently that showed you what plantar fasciitis is. This was a quick review of some foot pain where you get pain through either the heel area or down into the foot itself. The plantar fascia a triangular attachment underneath the foot that helps you to propel yourself when you’re walking or running.
Plantar fasciitis is pain that people can get when they’re running, hiking, or doing a lot of walking. Footwear can help a lot but there are also a few things you can do for yourself to help.
Roller Stick
So simply, when this gets into trouble it can be because it’s too short, which can tie to tightness in the calf. We’re going to release the calf to help it move better. There are a couple of different versions of a roller stick that we use to help release muscle tightness. With this stick you can do some massaging into the calf, either in the centre of the calf or the inside to help release some tightness. This will help lessen that tension through the foot.
Pressure Point Ball
Also, then we can take a little pressure point ball or you can use a tennis ball or even a golf ball at home, and put it underneath your foot and do a little bit of rolling back and forth. This is just to work on releasing some of the tightness in the fascia so your foot can move a little better and not create so much tension and pain.
Towel Activation
Finally, use a little towel to work on activating some of the muscles in the foot. Trying to keep the big toe down and working some of the muscles that control the arch. This way you don’t get into trouble. Often plantar fasciitis comes from poor mechanics – so when you’re running or standing you get some collapse in the foot.
Now these exercises might help a bit but, there also can be trouble up the chain. If your whole body leans when you stand on one leg, then doing work on the foot itself isn’t going to be enough. In this case we would need to source out whether there’s trouble in your knee or hip or sometimes up higher. Then we can help show you what you need to do to be able to stand taller on that foot and propel yourself better without pain.
So if you have more questions give us a call 604-983-6616