Exercises related to taming plantar faciitis

[VickiK]

+1 for the two Youtube channels @marzNC linked (Upright Health & Precision Movement). Both have lots of resources for cranky body parts on their websites; they are not limited to feet.

 

[brooksnow]

I find that keeping my foot flexed while I sleep makes all the difference during the day when my plantar fasciitis is flaring. I've never tried the commercial devices that help with this. Slipping my toes into a scarf that's tied in a figure 8 around my calf just below my knee keeps me from pointing my foot at night. Another thing I do is scoot down in the bed and put my feet flat against the footboard. I am now careful to stay attuned to the subtle beginnings of a PF flare up and can prevent it from getting bad by paying attention to my foot position at night and at rest during the day.

 

[SallyCat]

Can be related to how much your feet pronate when you walk. Phys therapy can identify and help a bit with that. With me it's just one foot.

Any insole or sandal with good, firm, arch support (at the level that's right for your feet) will allow you to walk and exercise comfortably, but won't fix the PF. It just keeps you from pronating and/or your arch flexing.

I used to train for and run marathons comfortably with Powerstep 3/4 insoles even though I had bad PF.

In addition to all the usual exercises, when I'm barefoot in the house now I wear silicone toe spreaders, and that helps. (I think it was someone here on TSD who suggested toe spreaders, so thank you!)

Pro tip if you like Altra shoes with the wide toebox but need arch support: you can use 3/4 arch supports. This lets you keep the wide toebox cushiony insole that comes with the shoes, you just cut off the part of the Altra insole that's under the 3/4 supports so that everything is level and your heel is snug in the heel cup. That way you don't have weird, chafe-y space around a standard full arch support in the wider toebox.

 

[marzNC]

Working on toes is part of this routine created by a Pilates instructor. Also works on 1-leg balance. I remember doing "spell the alphabet" exercise at the end when I attended a Pilates class for a few months soon after knee rehab a dozen years ago.

August 2022

 

[Christy]

I had to spell the alphabet as part of broken ankle rehab. I think it's more for proprioception though. My podiatrist told me that most of the foot and ankle exercises that patients think of as strengthening are actually for proprioception--apparently it's kind of their secret.

 

[brooksnow]

Another way to keep your feet from pointing at night - KT tape gently stretched on the top of the foot from just behind the toes to above the ankle.

 

[SnowHot]

I had plantar fasciitis when I was working on the floor at a ski shop, on my feet for lengthy periods of time. I was wearing supportive shoes with custsom footbeds, so I thought I was taking all precautions.

After getting a Theragun a few years ago I started doing the PF routine they have in the app, which was really helpful, so don't rule out percusion therapy.

The real permanent relief for PF for me came when I was dealing with a bit of pain in my lower back on the same side as my PF flare ups.
The routine I worked on with the Theragun for my lower back/hip area had a 2 or 3 minute high percusion on my IT band. The second I felt my IT band release tension, everything from my lower back all the way through my foot was like Ahhhhhhhh.

So, that being said, everything in our bodies are connected, don't dismiss the possibility that issues in your feet are connected to other areas in your body.

 

[SnowHot]

I also wear these socks.


'https://feetures.com/products/plant...ght-cushion-no-show-tab?variant=8670526013550

Edit for a better link.

 

[teppaz]

Thanks for the socks tip. I have a couple of pairs of Feetures and they’re indestructible.

 

[SnowHot]

Thanks for the socks tip. I have a couple of pairs of Feetures and they’re indestructible.

I have several regular Feetures socks that I love, especially the non blister ones when I play golf.
The PF Feetures are more supportive under the arch.

 

[MissySki]

My gut feeling is that it's like any sudden change can trigger PF. Different shoes that you wear a lot, different amounts of activity, suddenly going barefoot when you don't normally... my guess is that's also why there are such varying answers on shoes, etc. I think it probably somewhat depends on what your feet were already adapted to and any significant changes are probably best made gradually.

I think that’s definitely a key point. For pretty much my whole life I’ve gone barefoot anytime I’m home and pretty much live in flip flops when I go out if it’s remotely warm enough for them. Now working from home I’ve been barefoot every week day pretty much all day since 2020. I work out barefoot, I even practice my golf swing on my home mat barefoot. The only time I’ve ever had foot pain stemmed from dress shoes at the office (I had to pretty much stop wearing taller heels that put too much weight on my forefoot area prior to Covid) and ski boots haha. I could definitely see how sudden changes in foot behavior could cause trouble for some people though.

 

[Skimom262]

Back in June, I was dealing with pain in a heel. Thanks to my acupuncturist, in July I knew the issue was plantar fasciitis. Since then I've been researching ideas for dealing with having a stressed foot. Took a few weeks, but acupuncture treatments (twice so far), massage and stretching relevant muscles made a big difference.

The first set of exercises I came across:

July 2024

A 12-Minute Workout to Build Foot Strength

Five exercises a few times a week can make a big difference for how you walk and run.

www.nytimes.com

Have you done exercises that would useful after developing plantar fasciitis? If so, how often did you do them initially?

I do all the traditional exercises but by far, the thing that made all the difference was not going barefoot and wearing Vionic shoes. I also found KT tape helps when I get a recurrence which thankfully is rare.

 

[J9maus]

I have used Spenco insoles since the 90s when I taught step aerobics! I am currently having issues that are somewhat related to plantar fasciitis--achilles tendonitis. My left foot is just a mess. Ski boots have not helped. I also have developed a tailor's bunion on my left foot thanks to ski boots. Anyway, I have had a hard time finding Spenco lately, but just ordered some since I've been walking a lot more this summer and miss their cushiness. I had firmer semi-custom insoles right now, and they are too firm. I like a little cush under my stupid hyper mobile fussy feet. Thanks for the reminder to get some Spenco!

I have peroneal tendinitis on the outside of my right heel. What exercises helped your tendinitis. You are right ski boots don’t help. Reversion to the inside ski hurts!!massive doses of ibuprofen don’t help. I started it with doing pool aerobics without shoes on in my pool

 

[marzNC]

I've never gone barefoot, indoors or outdoors. Never wore high heels either. I'm a socks and sneakers type of person. I started looking for sneakers with more arch support a few decades ago. Tried some hard orthotics for a while but didn't use them consistently. Developing heel pain a few months ago was new.

Learning about all the muscles in the feet has been useful. I'd never heard of "feet intrinsic muscles." Turns out that solving the painful heel problem with my right foot after a month or so has led to realizing my left foot needs more help than the right. Not that much of a surprise given how much work it's taking to get my left leg more engaged when it comes to turning skis. The best explanation about making feet work better I've found so far is from Canada.

Being a visual learner, while I'm not going to start going barefoot in general, I probably will do some exercises barefoot at home for bit in order to use visual proprioception as I figure out how to do the exercises in the second video properly. Visual proprioception was helpful when I was doing PT after a serious knee injury a dozen years ago.

October 2023

March 2023

The exercises by the Canadians that are demonstrated with bare feet are what I've worked on in the last couple weeks. It helped a lot to see the movement of toes and the arch. Mainly focused on doing the basics that make creating a "skinny short foot" possible, not all of the foot intrinsic exercises.

I'm become much more aware of what's happening when I walk, whether in socks briefly at home or in different types of shoes or slippers. Going barefoot or wearing sandals is not an option for me. But doing exercises barefoot on a thick yoga mat is useful.

Bottom line is that I no longer have heel pain in the mornings. During the foot massage at a pedicure last week, neither arch hurt. That's a major change from two months ago.

I put all the videos that I found useful into my Over 50 Ski Fitness blog for future reference:

Over 50 Fitness For Skiing Adventures

over50skifitness.blogspot.com

 

[contesstant]

I have peroneal tendinitis on the outside of my right heel. What exercises helped your tendinitis. You are right ski boots don’t help. Reversion to the inside ski hurts!!massive doses of ibuprofen don’t help. I started it with doing pool aerobics without shoes on in my pool

Nothing is helping yet. I need to find a different PT who understands mountain biking and that I'm old. So, I'm still suffering a bit.

 

[altagirl]

Nothing is helping yet. I need to find a different PT who understands mountain biking and that I'm old. So, I'm still suffering a bit.

Have you tried contrast therapy? (Alternating hot and cold to get the benefits of heat for stretching and movement but then ice to reduce swelling and pain).

 

[contesstant]

Have you tried contrast therapy? (Alternating hot and cold to get the benefits of heat for stretching and movement but then ice to reduce swelling and pain).

I haven't tried anything else yet. It's not so bad that I'm miserable, it's just really stiff in the morning. I'm so wrapped up in my daughter's final high school tennis season right now that All Things Mom take a back seat! That being said, this would be easy to do when I'm relaxing on the couch.