At home care for plantar fasciitis can be done with everyday objects you find laying around the house! Here are several ways to get the fascia stretched out and relieve some tension:
https://www.womendailymagazine.com/feet-remedies-exercises-plantar-fasciitis/
- Freeze disposable water bottle, the more ridges the better!
- Place of the floor in front of you while seated.
- Roll foot from your heel to your toes along the water bottle.
- Apply moderate pressure through the foot to massage the entire length of the fascia.
- Perform massage for 2-3 minutes at a time, three times daily.
Ball Massage
- Obtain a small ball- lacrosse ball, golf ball, or billiard balls all work well.
- Place the ball on the floor and your foot on the ball while seated.
- Using your foot, apply pressure to the ball and massage the bottom of your foot.
- Perform massage for 2-3 minutes at a time, three times daily.
Plantar Fascia-Specific Stretching Program
- Cross your affected leg over your other leg.
- Using the hand on your affected side, take hold of your toes and pull back towards the shin. This creates stretch in the plantar fascia.
- You can make sure that you are performing the stretch correctly by gently rubbing the thumb of your unaffected side left to right over the arch of the affected foot. The plantar fascia should feel firm, like a guitar string.
- Perform this stretch for 10 seconds, ten times.
- Perform this stretch three times daily.
Additional Stretch: Achilles Tendon Stretch
- Place your affected leg behind your unaffected leg with the toes of your back foot pointed towards the heel of your other foot.
- Lean into a wall while bending your front knee and keeping your back leg straight with heel on the ground.
- Perform this stretch for 10 seconds, ten times.
- Perform the stretch at least three times a day.
These methods can be done by anyone, anywhere, at any time. Incorporating them into your daily routine can help cut the risk for developing symptoms of plantar fasciitis. Many remedies can be done while watching TV, eating dinner, or even folding laundry. Now lets get to work and stretch those feet!
By: Riki Duncan, ATC
Sources:
https://www.aofas.org/footcaremd/conditions/ailments-of-the-heel/Pages/Plantar-Fasciitis.aspx
http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/plantar-fasciitis/basics/symptoms/con-20025664