Do you have pain in your feet in the morning? Here are a few tips for relieving some of the pain and discomfort that you may feel.
You can take a frozen water bottle and roll it on the bottom of your foot. This will help with pain and inflammation. It will also add a numbing-massaging benefit for your sore feet.
Make sure you stretch! Doing stretches for your calves and the bottom of your feet will also be beneficial. You can use a stair step or the wall for these. For the calf stretch you can place the ball of your foot of a step or on the wall then lean forward to feel a stretch to the back of your calf. Holding for 30 seconds for a good stretch, make sure you keep your leg straight. To stretch out the bottom of your feet you can place your toes against the wall or step and let your toes extend back. Hold these for 30 seconds for a good stretch also.
For some night-time relief you can make your own Strassburg sock. To make one of these all you will need 2 knee length socks (per foot).
Step 1. Put one sock on the affected foot and pull it up to cover your calf.
Step 2. Take the other sock putting it back to the heel.
Step 3. Grab the toe portion of the second sock and pull them back and tuck into the top of the first sock (or pin with a safety pin if needed). The second sock should be pulled tight enough to gently bend back your toes.
Make sure that you do not pull this too tight! Feel free to make adjustments to the tension if you start to feel pain.
Heather Hunt, PTA
