Part 1 of 4 · How to Relieve Foot Pain
If spending a day on your feet leaves you sore and aching, this one is for you.
This is part one of a four-part series that will take you through fixing foot pain properly. Any one of these posts on its own will help. Doing all four in order will do considerably more.
Why we start here
Whether you have Achilles tendonitis, plantar fasciitis or any other painful foot condition, the inflammation behind it can be seriously debilitating. Often it is uncomfortable enough to affect how you move through an ordinary day.
So the first thing to do is bring that inflammation down. We use self-myofascial release, which means using a lacrosse ball and a foam roller to relax the muscles that have become overactive.
Done properly, this can take the edge off in as little as sixty seconds.
What you need
- A lacrosse ball. They cost a few dollars online.
- A foam roller, from any sports shop.
What to do
Foot roll
- Sitting in a chair, place the lacrosse ball on the floor.
- Put the middle of your foot on it and apply pressure, rolling around to find the most tender point.
- Hold there for sixty seconds, breathing in through your nose and out through your mouth.
- Three times for one minute, with thirty seconds between.
Side of calf
- Lying on your side with legs extended, place the roller under the side of your calf.
- Rest one leg on the other and hold yourself up as if in a side plank.
- Keeping steady pressure, sit on the most tender part.
- Three times for one minute, thirty seconds rest between.
Calf roll
- Sit with legs extended and the roller under your calves.
- Cross one leg over the other and hold yourself up with your hands.
- Find the most tender part and stay there.
- Three times for one minute, thirty seconds rest between.
Hamstring roll
- Same position, roller under the hamstrings.
- Cross one leg over the other, hands on the floor.
- Find the most tender part and hold.
- Three times for one minute, thirty seconds rest between.
Do this every day, ideally right before bed. Next week we move on to stretching, which is what releases the tension you have just worked loose.
This is part one of four. Part two is stretching.
Written by
Kristoff "Kris" Warsaw
Kris is the owner and head trainer at Versed Fitness, training clients in their own homes across Baltimore, Towson and Pikesville. He specializes in working with people whose joint pain has made ordinary exercise feel impossible.
