Tips to Alleviate Foot Pain from Plantar Fasciitis
Foot pain can make every step feel like a challenge, whether you’re getting out of bed in the morning or simply walking throughout the day. The good news is that there are simple, effective strategies you can use to relieve pain and support your recovery.
I’m Lauren Masi, Doctor of Physical Therapy and Board Certified Orthopedic Clinical Specialist. I’m also the owner and Clinical Services Director of Bay Area Physical Therapy and Lafayette Physical Therapy. Today, we’re going to talk about some tips to alleviate foot pain from plantar fasciitis.
What Is Plantar Fasciitis?
If you’ve read any of our other blogs on fascia, you may know that I normally describe fascia as a thin connective tissue that lines all of the organs and muscles throughout the body.
The plantar fascia, which sits at the bottom of the foot, is one of the thickest types of fascia in the body. It’s a very thick connective tissue that assists some of the ligaments to support the arch of the foot. When your foot hits the ground, the intent of your foot’s joints is to be shock absorbers. They flatten and splay out to absorb the impact of taking a step. When the plantar fascia gets tugged on, it can pull at its insertion on your heel on the undersurface of your foot.
What Does Plantar Fasciitis Feel Like?
For different reasons, the plantar fascia can get injured. It can get inflamed, overstretched, and even torn for some people, which affects the way that we can move. And when that happens, it’s very painful.
Some people will feel local pain in that area. Other people will feel it through the whole arch of the foot, almost to the ball towards each toe. This is because the plantar fascia extends from the heel with almost finger-like projections towards the metatarsal heads, or the base of each toe where it meets the ball of the foot.
Alleviate Foot Pain at Home Using Ice
The number one thing you should do at home if you’re experiencing foot pain is use ice. When it first happens, if you feel any inkling that the pain is starting to come on, ice is a natural anti-inflammatory. Ice the heel and the arch for a minimum of 10 minutes, no more than 20 minutes at a time.
A common complaint I get is that ice doesn’t feel good, especially if it’s cold outside, because it can make the foot muscles feel tighter. And I do understand that. But using ice creates a temporary effect that stops fluid from going to the painful area to inflame the tissues. You will thaw out, and your foot will loosen up and go back to normal.
Freeze a Water Bottle to Alleviate Foot Pain with an Ice Massage
A fun way to ice the plantar fascia is to freeze a water bottle, because sometimes you just want a little bit of a massage in that arch of the foot. When an area is inflamed, it often guards—meaning you’ll feel like it’s tight—because the muscles are reacting to the pain. You can give yourself a little bit of a self-massage while you’re icing by using a frozen water bottle and rolling your foot back and forth over it.
I usually recommend doing this frozen water bottle massage for no more than two minutes at a time, but you can do it multiple times throughout the day. Just be aware of how much pressure you’re using. You don’t want to beat up your foot and make it more painful. You want to make sure that you can relax into the stretch.
Use a Tennis Ball to Stretch and Massage the Plantar Fascia
You can also use a tennis ball, even just as a general massage, while you’re sitting in a chair under a table. No one even has to know you’re doing it. And when you have the ball in your arch, you can lift your toes gently, and that’s going to add a little bit more stretch through that area.
And, if you get to a point where the ball doesn’t feel like it’s deep enough, you can stand and roll on it as well. But again, just make sure you aren’t putting too much pressure.
Use Orthotics to Prevent Foot Pain
Another good thing to consider to prevent foot pain is using orthotics. Ask yourself, before you got your plantar fasciitis, was there a change in your activity level? If you are a runner, did you increase your mileage? Did you get a new pair of running shoes? If you’re not a runner, did you just get a new pair of shoes, maybe dress shoes?
Some shoes might not be as supportive as your foot is used to, especially if you don’t have a lot of strength in the intrinsics, the small muscles in between all your toes and in your foot. While I don’t think everybody has to rush out and get a pair of custom orthotics, it is something that you can talk to a medical professional about to see if it would be helpful.
If you are someone who has orthotics, I do recommend you wear them all day long, even around your house. Your body gets used to having the support of the shoe during the day, and then you go home and you take that support away. Now your foot is splaying out, it’s getting stretched, and you’re tugging on that insertion of the plantar fascia into that bone in your heel, which can be painful.
Wear Supportive Shoes to Prevent Foot Pain
I do recommend a couple different supportive shoes. We are not sponsored by any of these companies, these are just brands that we use and sell in our clinics because we have found that they work very well.
1. Archies® Flip Flops and Slides
In our clinics, we sell Archies® flip flops with the V that goes between your toes. They also sell slides, if you prefer that. But they have a nice built-in arch support on a memory foam base.
There’s a little bit of squish to it when you step, which is great because sometimes patients will complain that the heel strike (when your foot hits the ground) is the most painful part of walking with plantar fasciitis. Having a little bit more cushion there can be a good thing as well.
2. Vionic Slippers
In the wintertime, personally, I own a pair of Vionic slippers. Again, no sponsorship included, but they do have a nice built-in arch support in a fuzzy slipper that can help give you support even when you’re at home.
Reach Out to a Physical Therapist for Expert Support
If those little simple strategies don’t help, then please reach out to a physical therapist today and we can help give you a little bit more insight. One of the things that we offer here at Bay Area Physical Therapy and Lafayette Physical Therapy is a Class Four laser that does help with pain and inflammation. It will help settle those tissues and allow you to participate more in your therapy sessions.
After we’ve treated the acute pain in your foot, we are going to look at the whole chain of what’s contributing to it. You might have tightness in your calf muscles, which stretching your calves can help, and also you might have weakness all the way up in your hips.
For example, if you’re a runner, we need to make sure your hamstrings and your hips are strong so that when you’re running, you’re propelling from your larger muscles and not trying to use all the little muscles in your foot, which could contribute to your plantar fascia pain.
More Information You Might Find Useful
So again, if you need any assistance, please reach out to Bay Area Physical Therapy today for complimentary consultation. And for more information on some of the topics covered in this blog post, you can look at some of our other posts on: inflammation, overcoming foot pain, fascia, scar tissue, balancing rest and activity, and even more information on our laser.