Heal Your Plantar Fasciitis!
This usually involves using ice to decrease the pain and inflammation in the plantar fascia. Ice packs can be applied to the bottom of your foot for 10-15 minutes, several times a day, to control the inflammation. Another way to apply ice to your plantar fascia is with the ice bottle massage.
4 different approaches!
(1) STRUCTURE-SPECIFIC STRETCHING
Research (DiGiovanni 2003) has shown that stretching the plantar fascia directly is the most important and most effective thing you can do to heal your Plantar Fasciitis. Other research (Flanigan 2007) has shown that proper ankle position and toe position can help heal Plantar Fasciitis faster.
(2) SELF-MASSAGE
When the body experiences pain and injury, it tightens surrounding muscles and tendons to protect itself from further pain and injury. We use self-massage to let our body know it’s okay to relax these muscles and tendons. When they relax, we can more easily stretch them and heal them.
(3) LOWER BODY STRETCHES
Research (Radford 2006) has shown that stretching the calf, the Achilles tendon and soleus muscles, helps improve ankle mobility and dorsiflexion. Other research (Flanigan 2007) has shown that with increased ankle mobility and dorsiflexion, we can get a better plantar fascia stretch, which is the most important thing you can do to heal your Plantar Fasciitis.
(4) ANKLE MOBILITY
Research (Riddle 2003) shows that reduced ankle dorsiflexion appears to be the most important risk factor for Plantar Fasciitis, so increasing ankle mobility will help us protect against future recurrences. Research (Flanigan 2007) also shows us that increased ankle mobility can help us get a better stretch in the plantar fascia, which is the most important thing you can do to heal your Plantar Fasciitis.
