Plantar fasciitis occurs when tiny tears in the main foot tendon attaching to the heel bone, cause painful inflammation at the site of the injury. It can also be caused by overly tight calves, hamstrings and Achilles tendons because these tendons also pull on the heel bone. This means that this as well as doing specific plantar fasciitis exercises, most sufferers can improve their debilitating foot pain by doing exercises which can stretch and lengthen the calves, hamstrings and Achilles tendon. However, these exercises can be very intense. This means that if you do them too early on in your recovery from plantar fasciitis, do them before you have warmed up the relevant muscles and tendons, or if you lose control whilst you are doing these exercises, then you can actually make your plantar fasciitis worse. Here are three top tips to make sure you perform your plantar fasciitis stretches properly and speed you on your way to a total cure for plantar fasciitis pain. Tip 1: Warm Up Advanced plantar fasciitis stretches can be very beneficial when done properly but must never be done when the foot and lower leg muscles are cold. In particular, you must never perform these stretches on first rising from bed when the plantar fascia tendon has relaxed and shortened back to its original length. This is because advanced foot exercises, such as the Drop Step Stretch can easily overextend the muscle resulting in tearing to the hamstring, calf, Achilles tendon or even further damage to the plantar fasciitis if it is still cold. The best way to warm up for these advanced stretches is to gently flex and rotate the feet a few times and then walk up and down a flight of stairs for two to three minutes. After this you can confidently tackle the most intense plantar fasciitis stretches safely without causing the tendon more damage. Tip 2: Limit The Stretch The stretch delivered by advanced stretches, like the Drop Step Stretch is potentially very intense because it is limited only by the distance your heels are from the floor. If your toes are higher than your own foot length from the floor, then the stretch is restricted only by the length of your Achilles tendon, hamstring and calf muscle. If you overbalance the effects can be disastrous. The way to stop this from happening is simply to place something underneath your heels to limit your stretch. For example you could perform the stretch whilst standing on a thick book, or pile of books, rather than a step. In this case, the stretch will be limited by the heels touching the floor. Tip 3: Support Your Weight The Drop Step Stretch uses your body weight AND gravity to achieve a very intense stretch, which can also be hard to control. A safer way to do this advanced plantar fasciitis stretch is to take some of your weight on your hands so that the whole body weight is not used to lower the heels. Following these three tips will ensure that your foot condition is never worsened only improved by even the most intense plantar fasciitis stretches.
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