20 Tips to avoid morning heel pain

It's not fun starting out your day, when your first steps are painful.  This is a common sign of plantar fasciitis.  The plantar fascia is a band of connective tissue which supports the arch of your foot and runs from the heel bone to the toes.  Excess stress on the plantar fascia can result in tearing and inflammation and the development of plantar fasciitis.  The pain is mostly felt at the bottom, inside of the heel, but can extend through the arch.

The pain can be sharp, dull, achy, burning or feel like a stone bruise.  The pain is usually worse when walking barefoot and after activity.  Sports such as soccer, tennis and running or jogging as well as simple activities will aggravate plantar fasciitis.   Here are 20 simple tips to try and help alleviate your heel pain.

1. Identify the cause.  This is the most important step. Most likely a certain activity or pair of shoes is contributing to this development.
2. Avoid impact activities.  This includes jogging, running, soccer, baseball and tennis.  A great way to maintain fitness without aggravating the plantar fascia is to swim or ride a bike.
3. Eliminate the aggravating activities.  Stop all activities that place excess stress on the plantar fascia while you are trying to heal.  Reduce the use of stairs, avoid hills, minimize squatting, lifting heavy items and avoid walking on uneven terrain.
4. Water bottle ice massage.  If you don't have a foot roller you can freeze, freezing a sports water bottle can also do the trick.  Roll your foot over it for 20 minutes twice a day.  Icing is most effective the first few weeks after plantar fasciitis develops.  You can also directly ice the heel for 20 minutes twice a day as well.
5. Roll your arch over a ball.  Using a tennis ball or rolling pin, roll your foot over the ball to stretch the plantar fascia.  If this is causing pain, discontinue.
6. Contrast between hot and cold.  Ice for 5 minutes and then use a heating pad for 5 minutes.  Alternate between the two for a total of 30-40 minutes.
7. Do not massage the heel.  Even though you may think that massaging the sore area of the heel might help, this will only aggravate the heel and increase inflammation and pain. 
8. Stretch the calf in the morning.  Stretching the calf should be done in bed before you step down.  Use a stretch band or belt and wrap it around the ball of your foot keeping your knee extended as you pull back on the foot.  This will stretch your calf, and you should hold the position for at least 1 minute.
9. Stretch the plantar fascia.  This is a stretch specifically for the plantar fascia.  Place the affected foot on the opposite knee, grab the toes and pull back.  This will stretch your arch.
10. Do a stretch every hour.  By stretching the calf and plantar fascia for 1-2 minutes every hour will decrease your healing time.
11. Take anti-inflammatory medications.  Medications such as ibuprofen and naproxen will help decrease the inflammation.  They can work well during the beginning stages of plantar fasciitis, but they should only be used along with other treatments.  You should not take these medications if you have a stomach ulcer.
12. Lose weight.  The more weight on the body, the more force and stress you put on your feet and the plantar fascia.  Even a small amount of weight loss will decrease the amount of stress and help with the healing process.
13. Wear shoes that are supportive.  Shoes need to be worn all day, from the time you get up to the time you go to bed.  Soft flexible shoes will only cause more problems, despite how comfortable they might be.  You should always avoid going barefoot.
14. Use a heel cup.  During the early stages of fasciitis, your heel is very tender.  Heel cups will help add comfort to your shoes while walking as well as adding shock absorption.  You should wear these in conjunction with other therapies and are not affective in the later stages of the condition.
15. Use heel lifts.  Using a heel lift up to 1 inch will decrease the stress on the plantar fascia.
16. Use an anti-fatigue mat.  If you have a job that you stand in one place for an extended amount of time, you should have an anti-fatigue mat.  This will add shock absorption and decrease stress through the heel.



Darco Night Splint

17. Strengthen your foot muscles.  You can do this exercise that helps strengthen the small muscles in the bottom of your foot without purchasing any equipment.  You will need to be in a seated position, place a thin towel on the floor in front of your feet.  Grab the edge of the towel with your toes and pull the towel under your foot.
18. Tape your foot.  By taping the arch with a sports tape in a way that supports the arch can reduce stress through the plantar fascia and accelerate healing.
19. Use a night splint.  A night splint will help stretch the arch and the plantar fascia.  Even though they are called night splints, they can be worn during the evening or during the night.  Night splints can be made either rigid or soft.  They are also a simple, affordable and effective therapy.
20. Try wearing off the shelf orthotics.  Prefabricated orthotics are designed to control abnormal foot motion that places stress on the plantar fascia.  They are not soft and flexible but semi-rigid and supportive.  If you do well with these, you might want to think about investing in custom-molded ones.

If your symptoms continue, contact our office at 419-423-1888 or our website at http://www.vailfoot.com/ to schedule your appointment with Dr. Vail.