how-to-relieve-foot-and-ankle-pain-in-just-20-minutesOf all the visible parts of your body, nothing works harder than your feet! Of course, the hardest working muscles and bones are also the most susceptible to pain and injury. By performing these five exercises two to three times per day, you can relieve foot and ankle pain, strengthen your muscles, and improve your balance.

Toe Presses

Complete a set of toe presses as your warm up. This low-impact exercise helps get the blood flowing and can actually be quite relaxing. To perform this exercise:

  • Stand up straight with a slight bend in your knees.
  • Grip the floor with your toes, but don’t curl them.
  • Hold this position for three seconds.
  • Release, relax for a few seconds, and repeat 10 more times.
  • Note: When you’re ready to up the intensity level, increase how long you grip the floor with your toes.

Toe Walking

Also called tiptoeing, toe walking is a great exercise to strengthen your foot muscles and ligaments surrounding the balls of your feet. Here’s how to toe walk:

  • Tiptoe forward for 20 strides.
  • Rest for 10 to 15 seconds.
  • Turn around and tiptoe back to where you started.
  • Repeat the exercise five times.
  • Note: When you’re ready for a challenge, increase how far you walk before taking a break.

Ankle Circles

Having flexible ankles is important, not just to reduce foot and ankle pain, but to prevent other areas of your body from compensating. Ankle circles strengthen your muscles to help reduce knee, hip, and low back pain. To perform this exercise:

  • Lie on your back and extend your right leg over your head.
  • Rotate the extended ankle clockwise 10 times.
  • Switch directions and rotate the ankle counterclockwise 10 times.
  • Bend your knee and rest your right foot back on the floor.
  • Repeat the exercise with your left foot.

Resisted Flexion

This foot exercise targets small, hard-to-reach muscles on the top of your foot and ankle, which play a crucial role in maintaining good balance. Strengthening these muscles helps prevent falls and subsequent injuries that may occur. You need an exercise band to perform resisted flexion. Here’s how it works:

  • Wrap an exercise band around a bedpost or sturdy chair.
  • Sit on the floor and extend your legs out in front of you.
  • Place the exercise band over the top of your right foot and slide backward until you feel tension in the band.
  • Flex your foot and hold for five seconds.
  • Slowly release your foot, feeling resistance from the band as you do.
  • Repeat this exercise 10 times on your right foot.
  • Move the band to the left foot and repeat the exercise another 10 times.

Resisted Plantar Flexion

A particularly good exercise if you have plantar fasciitis, this type of resisted flexion targets muscles on the bottom of your feet and your calf. You need an exercise band to perform resisted plantar flexion. Here’s how it works:

  • Sit in a sturdy chair and raise your right leg parallel to the floor.
  • Wrap the exercise band around the ball of your raised foot and hold onto it strongly with your right hand.
  • Press the ball of your foot into the band, keeping your right arm where it is.
  • Gently return your foot to a flexed position, feeling resistance from the band as you do.
  • Repeat this exercise 10 times.
  • Move the band to the left foot and repeat the exercise on this side 10 more times.

Treat Foot and Ankle Pain at Spine Correction Center

When your feet hurt, it affects your entire lifestyle. Don’t live in pain another day! Try out these at-home exercises, and then come to Spine Correction Center for foot pain treatment. We’ll begin with a biomechanical analysis to pinpoint exactly where your troubles lie. Then, we begin work to correct the problem. Our specialists can help reduce symptoms of plantar fasciitis, bunions, metatarsalgia, Morton’s neuroma, iliotibial band syndrome, and many other foot conditions.

To schedule your free consultation, please contact Spine Correction Center in Fort Collins at (970) 658-5115.