Why Does Heel Pain Happen?
You might feel pain in your heel because of various reasons but the most common reason for heel pain is plantar fasciitis. There is a thin ligament called the plantar fascia that is responsible for making a connection between your heel and your foot’s front part. If you damage this ligament for some reason, you develop plantar fasciitis and heel pain.
Plantar fascia might get damaged because of repetitive motion, step aerobics, weight gain, or pregnancy. However, you should not get discouraged by heel pain because you can treat it easily with heel pain physiotherapy treatment.
You can add a number of heel pain treatment exercises to your workout plan and relieve the pain. Down below, we have mentioned 5 plantar fasciitis heel pain exercises and some precautionary points that will help you treat your pain.
How To Do Exercise For Heel Pain Relief
A heel pain exercise that is effective for one person might not work for you. So, we suggest you try the below-mentioned exercises as per your comfort:
- Calf stretch
Plantar fasciitis can worsen over time if the muscles in the feet and calves get tightened. This heel pain exercise can provide you relief from pain by loosening the calf muscles. Here is a step-by-step guide that will help you do this exercise for heel pain relief:
- Stand in front of a wall and lean your hands against it.
- Bend the knee of the unaffected leg while keeping the other knee straight.
- Make sure that your feet stay flat on the floor throughout the calf stretch.
- To get the best results, you have to hold this calf stretch pose for about 10 seconds and repeat it 2 to 3 times.
- Rolling stretch
It is considered the best exercise for heel pain since it is quite efficient at loosening the foot muscles and is fun to do. To do the rolling stretch, you have to place some type of rolling object (it can be a rolling pin, golf ball, or even a frozen bottle) and roll it back and forth with your foot.
You can buy foam foot rollers from any sports store. If you want to reduce muscle inflammation, a frozen bottle of water will be better than a foam foot roller. Here is a step-by-step guide that will help you do this exercise to reduce heel pain:
- Sit tall on a chair keeping your posture straight.
- Now, place the foam foot roller or frozen bottle under the affected foot.
- Roll it to and fro for about 2 minutes. If you are using a frozen bottle, you might not be able to roll it for two minutes so try to roll it as long as you can.
- Seated foot stretch
This is another heel pain exercise that treats your problem by reducing muscle tightness. Here is a step-by-step guide that will help you do seated foot stretch:
- Sit straight on a chair or the end of a bed and cross the affected foot over the other leg.
- Pull your toes towards the shin and your feel a little tension in the arch of your foot.
- Place your hand on your foot’s bottom so that you can experience tension in the inflamed plantar fascia.
- To get the most out of this heel pain exercise, you have to hold this pose for at least 10 seconds and repeat it 2 to 3 times.
- Towel curls
When you curl a piece of cloth with your toes, your foot and calf muscles get stretched. This heel pain exercise proves to be beneficial for people especially when they do it before completing any physical task in the morning. Here is a step-by-step guide that will help you do towel curls:
- Sit on a chair or the end of a bed with both feet planted on the floor.
- Place a soft towel or a washcloth in front of your feet and grab its center with the help of your toes.
- Curl it towards your heels and you will feel a stretch in your foot and calf muscles.
- Now, rest the foot for a few seconds and repeat towel curls.
- To get the best out of this heel pain exercise, you have to do at least 5 reps.
- Marble pickups
Considered as the best exercise for heel pain by many, marble pickups stretch your foot muscles and reduce the pain. Here is how you can do marble pickups:
- Sit on the end of a bed, bend your knees, and place your feet on the ground.
- Next, place some marbles right next to your feet.
- Try to pick these marbles by curling your toes.
- Repeat marble pickups at least 20 times to get optimal results.
Precautions And Safety Points
Here is a list of precautions and safety points to keep in mind while you do heel exercises for heel pain:
- If you have delivered by cesarean delivery (C-section), you should not do any intense exercise in your lower body workout for until six months.
- Physical therapists advise to not do quick movements while performing any exercise to reduce heel pain. Quick movements increase the chances of injury or sprain on muscles.
- If you feel sharp pain while doing heel pain treatment exercises, you should immediately stop.
- If you feel only mild pain while doing plantar fasciitis heel pain exercises, you should take a rest and give your muscles and tendons time to heal. However, if you feel pain again when you restart the heel pain physiotherapy treatment after rest, you should consult a physiotherapist.
- Keep doing heel pain exercise for some time even after you have recovered from plantar fasciitis as it will improve the mobility of your feet.
There are various easy heel exercises for heel pain to add to your home workout. These exercises stretch the plantar fascia and provide you relief from the pain. At the start, you should try multiple exercises and you can later stick to only 2-3 exercises that are giving you satisfactory results.