We often get told if we have foot pain to massage, stretch and strengthen the muscles in our feet and calves. Have we ever considered the importance of why?
Foot and ankle pain is a complex situation. It often arises from over activity, inadequate footwear, poor foot function, stiff foot and ankle joints, and/or tight and weak calves.
Underneath the foot is a tough fibrous band called the plantar fascia. The role of the plantar fascia is to support the arch and provide shock absorption. The plantar fascia band extends from the heel bone and splays out to the toes.
At the start of our gait cycle, we go to push off the ground with our big toe, and the big toe flexes back. This increases arch height, which increases tension throughout the plantar fascia band and allows us to push off the ground. The easier the arch height lifts when the big toe flexes, the better the arch function. If this does not occur, this means that the arch require extra support to help lift it when the big toe flexes backwards.
After the arch is unlocked, our weight moves to the ball of our foot, so we can push off the ground. This phase is known as the propulsion phase of gait. This is where we need strong calf muscles to gain the momentum for this action, without over using the foot muscles.
If our calf muscles are weak or tight, this can limit our ankle joint movement, require during gait, and contribute to foot pain.
The 3 Best Exercises for Foot Pain:
Spiky ball rolling under the foot:
This exercise relieves the tension in the ligaments and muscles on the bottom of your feet and stimulates blood flow in the area. If you find that the first few steps of your day are painful this exercise will help.
How to do this exercise?
- Sit on the edge of a chair with the tennis ball under your toes.
- Roll the ball from your toes to your heel, applying as much pressure as you can tolerate.
- Repeat the above process on your other foot.
How Often?
- Roll the ball in the morning for approx. 5 mins total (2.5 minutes each foot).
- Roll the ball in the evening for approx. 10 min (5 minutes each foot).
2. Ankle mobility exercise:
This exercise will increase ankle joint mobility and dorsiflexion motion, taking strain off your calf and foot muscles.
How to do this exercise?
- Measure 10cm from the wall and mark with tape on the floor.
- Place toes on line and keep pelvis, knee and foot straight.
- Bend knee to touch wall without lifting your heel off the ground.
- Come half way back and lean forward again (pulsing like action).
- Repeat the above process on your other foot.
How Often?
- 30-40 reps each foot.
- 1x daily.
3. Calf strengthening:
This exercise strengthens the Achilles Tendon and calf muscles. High load training increases the tendons ability to withstand load.
How to do this exercise?
- Standing with knee straight, raise up onto toes.
- Progressively increase the load, start with no weights and both feet.
- Progress to single leg- injured side.
- Work within your pain tolerance level < 3/10 pain.
- Estimate rating of perceived excursion 7/10 (working hard).
How often?
- 15-25 reps.
- 3sec -0- 3sec tempo.
- 2 minutes rest between sets.
- Every second day.
We hope our 3 best exercises for foot pain have been able to assist you. If you are still experiencing foot pain after doing these exercises Well Heeled Podiatry can help by assessing your foot biomechanics and posture to see which muscle groups and foot joints are causing your foot pain. After your assessment we will devise a specific treatment regime to resolve your foot pain.
