If heel pain is the first thing you experience as you step out of bed in the morning, you know this is not a good way to welcome the day. You do not have to continue suffering. Pamper your feet with the following three easy tips can help you relieve the heel pain and may help you jump right out of bed while whistling Dixie with the sunrise.
Tip One: Calf Stretch
Tight calf muscles are the typical cause of heel pain. Stretching the calf muscles on a regular basis will take much of the stress off of the Achilles tendon. This tendon attaches the calf muscle to the heel. Tight calves pull the Achilles tendon at the attachment site of the heel bone and may be responsible for heel pain. Calf stretching is easy to do and will elongate and loosen up your tight muscles overtime with consistent practice. There are many tools available to help you stretch your calves safely and effectively stretches without stressing the Achilles tendon. Each stretching tool has its own unique features, but they all will allow you to stand on an incline with flat feet to stretch your calves.
Without using a stretching tool, perform a calf stretch by standing twelve to twenty-four inches away from a sturdy wall. Extend both arms straight out in from of you. Place both palms on to the wall. Do not lock your elbows, but keep your arms straight and firmly on the wall. Step away from the wall with one foot so that you are in a lunge position. Your front foot should be directly under your shoulders and your back foot should be behind your body. Keep your back leg straight and bend your front knee. With your back foot flat on the floor, hands on the wall, and front knee bent you will feel stretching in your calf. Hold this position for a count of ten and repeat three times each day. Make sure to stretch both sides. You do not need to step back very far to feel the stretch. However, as you become more flexible, you can get a deeper stretch by pointing your back knee down towards the ground with your foot flat on the floor.
Tip Two: Cool Massage
Supporting your weight, often in uncomfortable shoes is a difficult job for your feet. Prolonged standing, walking, running and jumping and landing along with wearing poor shoes and pronation or flat footedness stress your feet and often result in heel pain. Actually, overworking your feet can cause microscopic breakdown in the muscles and the fascia of the bottom of the feet. The body forms scar tissue or adhesions automatically to repair these microscopic tears. These adhesions develop into knot-like formations and may cause pain as you bear your weight down on them. When you are stressed and overworked a little pampering can rejuvenate your body and mind. The same is true for your overworked stressed out feet.
To pamper your feet treat them to a cooling massage. Fill a twelve ounce bottle with water and freeze it. Place the frozen water bottle on the floor and your foot on top of the bottle. Using moderate pressure roll your foot back and forth on it. This cooling massage pampers you and your feet in two ways. First, the cooling effect of the ice activates endorphin secretion from your brain. Endorphins are natural pain relievers and decreasing the inflammatory response. Second, rolling the frozen bottle under your feet massages your feet and breaks up the adhesions that cause pain. Pampering you feet with this incredible cool massage will also stretch the plantar fascia and muscles of the foot and relieve tension at the heel. You can also use this technique with a golf ball be followed by placing your feet in an ice bath for ten to fifteen minutes.
Tip Three: Trigger Happy
Massage and trigger point deactivation of your calf muscles and feet will relax your muscles and can bring you significant pain relief. First, you need to locate the key area on your calf to massage to relieve heel pain. The area to massage is located on the back of your calf halfway between your foot and your knee. This is where the muscle begins to curve outward and form the belly of the calf. Apply deep direct pressure in this area can deactivate a trigger point that is responsible for referring pain to the heel of the foot.
Love Your Feet:
If these tips do not relieve your heel pain consult with your doctor or podiatrist. Your heel pain might be caused by a heel spur. One more tip, be nice to your feet. Use good judgment when choosing shoes Do not let style reign over substance when selecting footwear. When you squeeze into a fabulous pair that was on sale or wear shoes that are worn out and falling apart you are abusing your feet. Simply, if the shoes hurt your feet, do not wear them. With fashion sense and common sense you can find stylish properly fitted shoes. Love your feet, after all they are your best support system.
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