Last updated 27/12/2023 by The pain clinics - Interdisciplinary Health

Good Exercises for Sore Feet!

Exercises and stretching of plantar fascia heel pain

Are you plagued with aching feet and pains in foot or heel? Plantar fascitis is a relatively common problem that causes pain in the foot blade on the front of the heel and the longitudinal medial arch. An overload of the fibrous tissue in the foot blade that constitutes the support for the arch of the foot can result in what we call plantar fascitis. The pain is most often located to the front of the heel, and can present both with and without heel spurs. In this article, we will address specific exercises and stretching for plantar fascia heel pain - as well as share links to several exercise programs with exercises for sore feet.

In most cases, patients can be treated with relatively simple grips, depending on how long they have had the pain and so on, but in other cases more active treatment such as pressure wave therapy or laser therapy is required. Some simpler treatment methods involve relief (eg with heel support designed specifically for plantar fascitis), dipping, sole alignment and stretching exercises.

Also read: Pressure wave therapy - a good treatment for chronic disorders

Specific extension of plantar fascia

Stretching of plantar fascia - Photo Mrathlef

A study published by Digiovanni (2003) showed a specific stretching program for stretching the plantar fascia. As shown in the picture, patients were instructed to sit with the affected leg over the other, then stretch the football and big toe upwards in dorsiflexion while feeling with the other hand on the heel and under the foot - so that you feel that it stretches in fotbuen. In Digiovanni's study, patients were instructed to stretch 10 times of 10 seconds duration, 3 times a day. Alternatively, you can also stretch 2 times of 30 seconds duration, 2 times a day.

Back Exercise Clothes Exercise

The leg muscles can also become tight and sore when you are affected by plantar fascitis. It is therefore important that you also extend this 30 second duration over 2 sets - weekday. This will relieve the muscles and make them more functional. Which in turn can lead to minor ailments further up in the musculoskeletal system - such as the knee, hip, pelvis and lower back.

Exercises and training to relieve the plantar fascia

A recent study (2014), published at Aalborg University, has shown that specific strength training is effective in counteracting plantar fasciitis. This is logical, as it is an underactivity in the posterior tibialis (toe lift) and peroneus (inversion) that often leads to collapse of the arch of the foot (overpronation) due to insufficient support - and thus overload of the foot tissue, which in turn results in plantar fascia dysfunction. Thus, to support the medial foot arch, we must strengthen and activate the posterior and peroneus tibialis. How do we do it? Well, first, what features do these muscles have? The posterior ttibialis is responsible for plantar flexion which allows you to walk on the toes and the peroneus is one of the most important muscles that allows you to move the foot leaves towards each other. Therefore, we come to the conclusion that we should exercise Calf Raise og inversion exercises.

Specific plantar fascia training - Photo Mrathlef

Calf Raise

Simple and easy, get on your toes. To go through the entire movement you can use a stair step or similar to do the exercise. In this study, a backpack was used to increase load when doing this exercise, we advise you to start easily and increase gradually as you feel ready. A good starting point is 12 repetitions with 3 sets. After two weeks you can go down to 10 repetitions with 3 sets, but put on weight in the form of a backpack with books or similar.

Inversion exercises

To activate the peroneus, which is important in supporting the arch of the foot, we must perform inversion exercises. It may sound advanced, but it's really simple. The legs should be off the ground, so it is important that you sit a little high up, then pull the soles of your feet towards each other - 12 repetitions with 3 sets. To make the exercise heavier you can use thera band as you attach to a fixed point and then over the foot.

We also strongly recommend that you use compression sock (special edition against plantar fasciitis):

RELATED PRODUCT / SELF-HELP: - Plantar fascite compression sock

This compression sock is specially designed to provide pressure to the correct points of plantar fasciitis / heel groove. Compression socks can contribute to increased blood circulation and healing in those affected by reduced function in the feet.

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Also read: - Good Advice and Measures against Foot Pain

Research has shown that 3-4 pressure wave treatments may be enough to cause a lasting change in a chronic plantar fascite problem (Rompe et al, 2002).

How does the pressure wave treatment of plantar fascitis work?

First and foremost, the clinician will map where the pain is and most likely mark it with a pen or similar. Thereafter, the clinical protocols are used for individual problems (for example, 2000 beats of plantar fascia are treated with a 15mm probe). Treatment is performed over 3-5 treatments, depending on the duration and strength of the problem, with 1 week in between. It is important that pressure wave treatment is not performed much more often than once a week, and that it is allowed to go about 1 week between each treatment - this is to allow the healing response to take time to work with the dysfunctional foot tissue. Like other forms of treatment, treatment tenderness can occur, and this is usually due to the fact that it causes tissue changes.



Function:

The repetitive pressure waves from the pressure wave apparatus cause microtrauma in the treated area, which recreates neo-vascularization (new blood circulation) in the region. It is the new blood circulation that promotes healing in the tissue.

- Did you know that pressure wave treatment is also used for osteomyelitis? Or that compression socks can contribute to faster healing for calves and foot ailments?

NEXT PAGE: Pressure wave therapy - something for your plantar fasciitis?

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Source:

DiGiovanni BF, Nawoczenski DA, Lintal ME, et al. Tissue-specific plantar fascia-stretching exercise enhances outcomes in patients with chronic heel pain. A prospective, randomized study. J Bone Joint Surg Am 2003;85-A(7): 1270-7

Skirts, JD, et al. "Evaluation of low-energy extracorporeal shock-wave application for the treatment of chronic plantar fasciitis." Jour Bone Joint Surg. 2002; 84: 335-41.

Frequently asked questions about plantar fascitis and heel pain:

Best training of plantar fasciitis?

Reply: The fibrous tissue in the foot leaf is called plantar fascia and, according to studies, is responsible for carrying 14% (per side) of body weight. This is very important if you consider how many other structures are weight bearing. This high responsibility increases the chance of congestion - and this in turn can give rise to what we call plantar fasciitis, which is an overload of plantar fascia.

When we talk about training the plantar fascia or exercises for plantar fasciitis, it is actually the muscles around that we want to strengthen - that is, the muscles that stabilize the arch of the foot. This is to take the load away from the already overloaded area. Special strengthening of posterior tibialis og peroneus Muscles are important. You will find exercises for strengthening the tibialis posterior and peroneus further up in the article.

We must also keep in mind that plantar fasciitis is due to an overload, so it is very important that you move away from the activity that overloaded the area. Maybe you can replace running with cycling for a couple of weeks? Swimming can also be a great workout option for running and jogging.

- Relevant questions with the same answer and other wordings: Best Exercise of Plantar Fascit? How to train plantar fascia? How to strengthen the plantar facet? Action against Pater Fascite?

ALSO READ: What You Should Know About Fibromyalgia

Also read: - 6 Effective Strength Exercises for Sore Knee

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