Do you have pain in the sole of your foot or in your heel? Does it hurt when you get out of bed for the first few or more steps? If you answered yes, you most likely have plantar fasciitis or an inflammation of the connective tissue in the sole of your foot. This kind of thing happens to many many people. Whether you are sedentary or active, plantar fasciitis can affect you.
What is the Plantar Fasciia?
It’s a thick band of connective tissue that runs from your heel to the base of your toes. It helps maintain the arch of the foot and it is very elastic in nature. Read more about plantar fasciia.
Flat feet vs. High Arch
Although there is no direct correlation between flat feet and plantar fasciitis or high arches and plantar fasciitis, one could argue there are a few factors anatomically speaking in both flat feet and high arch feet that can lead to you straining your fasciia with repetitive activity. However, the remedy for the problem will help all types of feet to alleviate the pain.
Home remedies for relief of Heel/Foot Pain.
Although there is some controversy on how to treat plantar fasciitis, there a few tried and true methods that are sure to work. Keeping in mind the length of time you’ve had this problem for and other anatomical factors of your ankle and arch which may affect your response to treatment…
- First of all, you want to stretch or elongate the tissue affected and its surrounding structures. In this case it’s the calf (gastroc-soleus complex) like shown in this example – Take your time with the stretch. Recommended hold for treatment would be 1 minute, 3-5 repetitions.
- Secondly, you want to improve your ankle flexibility like shown in this video. This will allow your calf and shin muscles to move your ankle through steps much easier and will reduce the stress on the plantar fasciia.
- Finally, you definitely want to include a good foot massage. Massaging the foot ligaments and the fasciia itself will provide pain relief. Click here to learn how to give a foot massage to yourself.
