With Plantar Fasciitis there are good exercises that you need to practice every day and ones that can cause the condition to get worse or cause it to flare up. Stretching along with low impact cardiovascular exercise can greatly reduce the pain along the plantar fascia by increasing the surround muscle tissue and tone.
Exercise DO’S
- Towel stretch- By looping a towel around your foot, stretch by sitting with your legs stretched out. Pull the towel toward you and hold for 15-20 seconds and then release. Be carefull not to pull to hard or to fast as you don’t want to cause further injury
- Stretch on the stairs- Stand on the balls of your feet and lower your heel and stretch out the arch of your foot. This will help your arch get the stretching it needs.
- Frozen Can Roll- By rolling a frozen soda can on your foot, not only are you massaging your foot that has the Plantar Fasciitis, you are cooling the area too which can reduce the inflammation. This relieves a lot of pain and help with the healing process.
- Use the Elliptical rider or Recumbent bike – The elliptical machine is great for helping to stretch and strengthen the muscles in the foot and heel. These low impact exercises reduce the chance of over extending any tissue or tendons in the foot.
Exercise DON’TS
- Don’t Exercise in old shoes- Working out in old shoes is never a good idea, you are more likely to develop blisters when you are stretching. The pressure that needs to be put when you stretch can be painful if you don’t have a nice sole on the bottom of your shoes.
- Don’t buy expensive equipment- You will be surprised on how much equipment around your home you already have. Towels, cans, and rope are all elements in performing the exercises that you need to do to help heal Plantar Fasciitis.
- Don’t bounce when stretching- This will only hurt you even more. When you bounce when you are stretching, you cannot get the full affect of the stretch and it can cause you to stretch something that you shouldn’t. You need to be careful.
- Don’t do any high impact exercise – Anything that involves jumping or repetitive pounding actions on the heel and arch of the foot like jumping rope or running should be avoided completely. A doctor would have to make the assesment to weather or not you are far along enough in your recovery to exercise hard.
Strength training can help by building the muscle around your arch. When our feet are tired, we tend to always rely on the arches of our feet to carry the load. Strengthening allows us to be in control of our own pain. Follow the exercises prescribed by your doctor, that is the main source of recovery and prevention. When you practice the exercises daily, you have a very high chance of not having this condition return.
The main thing that you need to know is that Planter Fasciitis is easily treated if you are willing to make some changes in your lifestyle, and activities. You can still be healhy and active without having to sit on the sidelines. Protect your feet and you will be happy that you did.