Plantar Fasciitis Rehabilitation Exercises
You may begin exercising the muscles of your foot right away
by gently stretching them as follows:
- Towel stretch: Sit on a hard surface with your
injured leg stretched out in front of you. Loop a towel
around the ball of your foot and pull the towel toward
your body keeping your knee straight. Hold this position
for 15 to 30 seconds then relax. Repeat 3 times.
When the towel stretch becomes to easy, you may begin
doing the standing calf stretch.
- Standing calf stretch: Facing a wall, put your
hands against the wall at about eye level. Keep the
injured leg back, the uninjured leg forward, and the
heel of your injured leg on the floor. Turn your
injured foot slightly inward (as if you were
pigeon-toed) as you slowly lean into the wall until you feel a
stretch in the back of your calf. Hold for 15 to 30 seconds.
Repeat 3 times. Do this exercise several times each day.
When you can stand comfortably on your injured foot, you
can begin stretching the bottom of your foot using the
plantar fascia stretch.
- Plantar fascia stretch: Stand with the ball of your
injured foot on a stair. Reach for the bottom step with
your heel until you feel a stretch in the arch of your foot.
Hold this position for 15 to 30 seconds and then relax.
Repeat 3 times.
After you have stretched the bottom muscles of your foot,
you can begin strengthening the top muscles of your foot.
- Frozen can roll: Roll your bare injured foot back and
forth from your heel to your mid-arch over a frozen juice
can. Repeat for 3 to 5 minutes. This exercise is
particularly helpful if done first thing in the morning.
- Towel pickup: With your heel on the ground, pick up
a towel with your toes. Release. Repeat 10 to 20
times. When this gets easy, add more resistance by placing
a book or small weight on the towel.
- Static and dynamic balance exercises
- Place a chair next to your non-injured leg and stand
upright. (This will provide you with balance if
needed.) Stand on your injured foot. Try to raise the
arch of your foot while keeping your toes on the
floor. Try to maintain this position and balance on
your injured side for 30 seconds. This exercise can
be made more difficult by doing it on a piece of foam
or a pillow, or with your eyes closed.
- Stand in the same position as above. Keep your foot
in this position and reach forward in front of you
with your injured side's hand, allowing your knee to
bend. Repeat this 10 times while maintaining the
arch height. This exercise can be made more difficult
by reaching farther in front of you. Do 2 sets.
- Stand in the same position as above. While
maintaining your arch height, reach the injured
side's hand across your body toward the chair. The
farther you reach, the more challenging the exercise.
Do 2 sets of 10.
Next, you can begin strengthening the muscles of your foot
and lower leg by using elastic tubing.
- Resisted dorsiflexion: Sit with your injured leg out
straight and your foot facing a doorway. Tie a loop in
one end of the tubing. Put your foot through the loop so
that the tubing goes around the arch of your foot. Tie a
knot in the other end of the tubing and shut the knot in
the door. Move backward until there is tension in the
tubing. Keeping your knee straight, pull your foot toward
your body, stretching the tubing. Slowly return to the
starting position. Do 3 sets of 10.
- Resisted plantar flexion: Sit with your leg outstretched
and loop the middle section of the tubing around the ball
of your foot. Hold the ends of the tubing in both hands.
Gently press the ball of your foot down and point your
toes, stretching the tubing. Return to the starting
position. Do 3 sets of 10.
- Resisted inversion: Sit with your legs out straight and
cross your uninjured leg over your injured ankle. Wrap
the tubing around the ball of your injured foot and then
loop it around your uninjured foot so that the tubing is
anchored there at one end. Hold the other end of the
tubing in your hand. Turn your injured foot inward and
upward. This will stretch the tubing. Return to the
starting position. Do 3 sets of 10.
- Resisted eversion: Sit with both legs stretched out in
front of you, with your feet about a shoulder's width
apart. Tie a loop in one end of the tubing. Put your
injured foot through the loop so that the tubing goes
around the arch of that foot and wraps around the outside
of the uninjured foot. Hold onto the other end of the
tubing with your hand to provide tension. Turn your
injured foot up and out. Make sure you keep your
uninjured foot still so that it will allow the tubing to
stretch as you move your injured foot. Return to the
starting position. Do 3 sets of 10.
Written by Tammy White, MS, PT, for McKesson Health Solutions LLC.
This content is reviewed periodically and is subject to
change as new health information becomes available. The
information is intended to inform and educate and is not a
replacement for medical evaluation, advice, diagnosis or
treatment by a healthcare professional.
Copyright © 2003 McKesson Health Solutions LLC. All rights reserved.