Tuesday, May 20, 2008

Useful Plantar Fasciitis Exercises

Useful Plantar Fasciitis Exercises
There are exercises that can be done to decrease the risk
of recurrence of plantar fasciitis. Your doctor may give
you detailed instructions for an exercise program that is
appropriate for you. Exercises for plantar fasciitis
concentrate on stretching the Achilles tendon, calf, and
plantar fascia. These stretches can be done whenever you
experience pain from plantar fasciitis.

It is sometimes recommended that you warm up a little
before doing plantar fasciitis stretches. A simple warm up
is to walk up a flight of stairs. Ask your doctor for
advice on doing exercises for plantar fasciitis.

One of the plantar fasciitis stretches starts by standing
about two feet away from a wall. Lean against the wall.
With one leg bent comfortably, straighten the other leg,
placing it about six inches behind you with the heel on the
floor. Hold for ten seconds. You should feel a gentle
stretch of the Achilles tendon in the extended leg. Switch
positions and stretch the other leg. Repeat twenty times.

The second plantar fasciitis stretch starts with your toes
against the wall with heels on the floor. Bring your hips
closer to the wall so that your foot is at a forty-five
degree angle. This will stretch the calf and the plantar
fascia.

Sit on a chair. Rest the ankle of the injured foot on the
knee of the opposite leg. Gently push the toes backward
until you feel a stretch in the bottom of your foot.

Another exercise starts by leaning forward onto a
countertop. Your feet should be spread apart with one foot
in front of the other. Squat down. Keep your heels on the
floor. Hold for ten seconds and relax. Repeat twenty times.

Sit on a table with your knees bent. Holding onto the ends
of the towel, loop a towel under the ball of the foot. Keep
knees bent as you gently pull the towel while flexing the
foot upward. Try to press your foot against the towel.

If you experience pain in the morning, do the next simple
exercise before getting out of bed. While lying on your
back, use your big toes to write the letters of the
alphabet in the air. After writing the alphabet, gently
raise your big toes towards you.

Some people find massage helpful to reduce pain. One way to
massage the area yourself is to rest the foot on a tennis
or golf ball. Gently roll the foot over the ball. Rolling
back and forth over the ball yields a gentle massage of the
plantar fascia. You may want to try using an empty tennis
ball can that you filled with water and froze. The ice will
provide some pain relief while the rolling action massages
the foot.


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Allan Tan is the creator of http://www.foot-care.org/ . He
provides more helpful information on ingrown toenails,
metatarsalgia, heel pain, and foot calluses that you can
read up on his website. He setup this helpful website to
help people understand more about their foot conditions and
pain.

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