Balance Orlando owner and certified Rolfer™ Lu Mueller-Kaul shares her tips for treating plantar fasciitis, gleaned from years of helping clients with this chronic foot condition. Want to know how to treat your feet? Read on.
1. For Plantar Fasciitis, Rest is Required
This might mean taking it easy for a couple of days when you feel the first bit of discomfort. Sadly, people don’t take rest seriously. Rest is critical for this kind of injury.
Strap your foot to a boot for a couple of weeks.
2. Arch Support
Speaking of rest, arch support in the form of insoles for your shoes can give your feet a break. Be careful with arch support, however; overuse can lead to weak arches and dependence.
Arch support is best utilized during recovery or during activities that are likely to cause injury.
3. Myofascial Release Therapy & Structural Integration
This is excellent for loosening up the calves and the tissues around the foot and Achilles tendon.
Tight calves and Achilles tendons are associated with Plantar Fasciitis and can hamper recovery.
4. Stretching
Speaking of tight calves, calf stretches can also help loosen things up. Make sure your second toe points to the wall while doing the stretch. Do not stretch if it triggers pain in the bottom of your foot.
5. Ice As Preventative Maintenance
If you have been excessively on your feet on any given day, then ice is your friend.
Ice for 30 seconds to 2 minutes max, let your feet thaw, and repeat. Combine ice with elevation and you have just figured out an excellent way to rest your feet.
6. Posture Correction
Pronation occurs when you roll your feet inwards by collapsing you ankles inward.
This poor foot and ankle posture is associated with flat feet because it collapses the arches. The result can be chronic stress to the bottoms of your feet, which can lead to foot pain. A little awareness and some posture correction can work wonders here.
Structural Integration is very helpful in identifying and correcting postural issues and their causes.
Also, be aware that walking too far on the outside edges of your feet (supination) is also bad.
Want more information on this condition? Check out our blog post “Plantar Fasciitis: A Connective Tissue Issue.”