Plantar Fasciitis and How You Can Reduce Your Pain

 

Do you feel a sharp pain in your heel every time you take your first steps in the morning? Then you could be experiencing a type of heel pain, technically called plantar fasciitis. This is basically a tearing of the ligament on the bottom of your foot, which causes inflammation and subsequently this inflammation causes your pain. As you suffer this pain, you would find yourself hobbling along and find you are restricted with your day time activities. If you do not want to suffer long in this condition, it is thus important that you learn and understand how to manage this condition.

 

Discussed here briefly are five practical steps or ways that you can take in order to reduce the pain you feel in your heel:

First is to reduce your level of activity. This means that you have to reduce being on your feet during the day, so that you minimize or avoid further tearing of your fascia. In other words, more standing activity would lead to tearing and this will lead to inflammation and more pain. To be specific, avoid strenuous activities like running, or walking fast, or doing the treadmill at the gym. Instead, if you want to exercise, just do the walking or use a bike, or swimming, and other exercises that will not put strain or weight on your feet. It is also advisable to avoid unnecessary going up and down the stairs and carrying of heavy items. Try this reduced activity for about two weeks, and if you see an improvement then you can maintain your controlled activities before going back slowly to your regular activities. Never go back to your normal activities very quickly or you might tear your foot ligament fast again. You must consider getting this plantar fasciitis shoes.

 

Another way is to use ice massages. This is a favoured practice by professional sportsmen to help them recover from injuries. You can freeze a sports water bottle, place it on the floor, then roll your arch over the water bottle for around 20 minutes. To get maximum benefit, do this twice a day.

 

Next pointer is to try stretching your calf. With the use of a towel, wrap it around the ball of your foot, pull your foot towards you while keeping your leg straight. You will notice a gradual stretch in your calf. Try maintaining this stretch for around 30-60 seconds, for about 5 minutes at a time. This stretching is a great assistance to reduce your pain.