Stretching Exercises
The Rule of 3's
Stretching is vital to your heel pain relief!!!!
The products designed to fix heel pain are only part of the total heel pain solution. With stretching as described below, along with ice on the foot to reduce inflammation, and possibly over the counter NSAIDS (as prescribed by your doctor) your heel pain treatment will be accelerated. It is also imperative that you wear good shoes that fit well, with strong foot support.
Heel pain is caused by an overuse or fatigue injury to the soft tissue on the bottom of the foot, the plantar fascia. Stretching the tissue allows the body to recover and heal itself. Stretching exercises are a very important part of a good treatment protocol. We will go over the common stretches doctors prescribe to their patients with heel pain. The doctors recommend three different stretches, three times a day for thirty seconds each stretch.
The stretching must not be too forceful – Just enough to feel a definite stretch and not enough to cause pain. Do the stretching slowly. You should repeat the stretches until there is no longer sharp pain when you walk.
These stretches should all be done daily. Also, part of the recovery process is added by icing the heel at night for 15 minutes. We recommend any healing process is reinforced with topical pain relievers and bracing to complement the overall strategy. For more information, check out our ask the doctor section.