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1. While you are experiencing pain: Every morning, before rising,perform stretching exercises for your feet and ankles. If your feetfeel very stiff, massage the arches of your feet by holding your footin both hands (sit semi-cross-legged for this) with both thumbs firmlyplaced on the arch at the point where it touches your heel and the sideof your foot. Pressing firmly (digging your thumbs in) move your thumbsup the arch toward the ball of the foot. Repeat across the entire areaof the arch. This stretches the muscles and tendons, increases circulation,and breaks up any adhesions (products of the healing process) and anymineral/organic crystal deposits ("crunchies"). (Note: Lactic acid buildupin the arch area is common, and forms these crystals. The circulation tothe feet is sometimes inadequate to remove the muscular lactic acid, whichbuilds up. Rubbing your feet to remove such buildup is something youcan do after any extended period of walking to make your feet healthier.)
2. When things improve: Stretch and flex your feet on rising. Continueto wear arch supports whenever possible. Select shoes that provide goodarch supports.
3. When you no longer have a problem: Take note of the effects thatdifferent shoes have on how your feet feel. If you want to wear a stylethat doesn't give you the support you need, you can, if you limit theamount of wear -- that is, you wouldn't want to wear that type of shoeevery day, but it would be fine for a special occassion. For example,I recently bought a wonderful pair of Nine West heels with a cute instepstrap, with chunky heels. They complement my heavy legs -- thinner heelsonly make my legs look bigger -- and give good heel stability. But theyhave virtually no arch support, and heels tend to compress the tendonsthat aggravate the condition. So, they are for special occassions only,like tonight, when Andy and I are going to a big dinner party at the Hyatt.
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I recently found out that I also have plantar fasciitis. All I knew is that my heel hurt, even though I am no longer walking on a cement floor all day, and it hurt worse in the morning.
I'm not sure if you know this, but it is due to a fibrous band on the bottom of the foot attached to the heel bone and fanning forward toward the toes. It is responsible for maintaining the arch of the foot. The problem starts when part of this band is pulled away from the heel bone and the body reacts by filing in the space with new bone (heel spur).
Once diagnosed there are two things to consider: treatment to make it go away, and comfort. Arch supports may put you in a more comfortable place, but they are not *treating* the problem. I was given exercises/stretches to do and after one night, I noticed a difference the next morning. I was told that I should see a difference in one week, and if not to come in to the physio clinic for a laser shot.
The following exercise are designed to strengthen the small muscles of the foot in order to support the weakened plantar fascia.
1. Towel curls Place a towel on a slippery floor (no carpet). Put your foot on the part of the towel closest to you and curl the towel toward you using only the toes of the injured foot. You can add resistance by putting a weight on the end of towel. When you have reached the end farthest from you, push the towel back out again.
2. Using a towel again, loosely roll it lengthwise left to right in front of you. Place your heel on the floor so that your toes are resting on the left of towel in front of you. Keeping your heel in place, use your toes to move the towel from right to left. When you come to the end, push the towel from left to right. Repeat 10 times.
3. Shin curls Run your foot slowly up and down the shin of your other leg as you try to grab the shin with your toes. Repeat 30 times.
4.Stretches Lean against a wall to do a calf stretch. Bend your knee until a stretch is felt in your achilles tendon and hold. I found that this didn't stretch my plantar fascia enough, so I did the calf stretch, then went up on the toes of the back (injured) foot. You could feel the stretch through the bottom of the foot.
For me, one night of just stretches made a difference. I still get pain while walking a long distance, but I no longer wake up with pain. Medication will reduce the inflammation, but you still need to work the small muscles of the foot to support the plantar fascia.
Good luck!
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