How long have you suffered desperately wanting to stop Plantar Fasciitis pain? Has it been months or even years? Did your doctor give you a big boot, or air boot, to wear each time it acts up? How about injections in the heel and/or orthotics in your shoes? Or maybe someone showed you strength training exercises to lessen the pain. Maybe you have tried one or all of these strategies just hoping that something would work, only to wake up the next day and the pain is back.
Plantar fasciitis pain can feel interminable and leaves you feeling helpless to boot, no pun intended. When I say “stretch for 5 days and stop Plantar Fasciitis” I am not joking. Millions of people are suffering along with you each day. Sadly, these popular treatments just don’t work. They are all symptom-based and causal based. Do these stretches that I recommend for 5 days and you will stop Plantar Fasciitis!
What is Plantar Fasciitis?
It’s crazy that something so simple to solve has stumped so many people that should know better. The biggest mistake is thinking that the problem is with your heel or the arch of your foot. Plantar fasciitis is not a foot problem at all. Sure the arch is tight and can hurt when walking barefoot, but that is just the symptom and not the cause.
Plantar Fasciitis is named after the arch muscle, the Plantar Fascia. How ironic! The cause is actually further up the leg in the calf area. You have 4 calf muscles in each leg that control your lateral and vertical foot movement.
When the inside or outside calf muscle is tight, you will walk on the inside or outside of your foot, respectively. When the two middle calf muscles are tight, they will shorten your stride and that is what is causing your Plantar Fasciitis.
Typical Treatments to Stop Plantar Fasciitis That Don’t Work
1. Achilles tendon stretches disguised as calf stretches. Leaning against the wall and standing on a slant board or the curb only stretches the Achilles tendon.
2. Orthotics and shoe inserts. Placing orthotics in your shoes will cause the arch muscle to atrophy and prevent you from ever walking barefoot on any surface. Long term use of orthotics and inserts can cause knee issues.
3. Injections and ice. These only mask the pain because they are treating the symptom and not the source of the pain.
4. Surgeries and painkillers. Again, such drastic steps as surgery are just expensive and unnecessary. Painkillers open the door to risky long-term dependence and addiction.
Let’s be clear, we all should be able to walk on hard surfaces barefoot as that is what our bodies were intended to do. I do it all the time with no problems. As you can see, none of these previous interventions begin to touch the real cause of your pain.
How to stop Plantar Fasciitis in 5 Days
Stretch #1
Get a yoga strap, rope, or belt for this stretch for your calves. Any material will do as long as it is not elastic. Elastic bands are designed for strength training and that is the opposite of what we want to do.
Step 2
Sit on the floor with your back against the wall and one leg straight out in front of you. Place the rope or strap around the ball of your foot holding both ends together in your hands. Only use your hands to pull your toes back toward you. Do not use your leg muscles at all.
Step 3
Make sure your back is at least 90 degrees to your legs ( an L shape) and gently pull the toes back toward your torso. Hold the stretch for 3-5 seconds and repeat the stretch 8-10 times. You should feel the stretch behind your knee. Next, rotate your foot inward and repeat the stretch. You should feel the stretch on the outside of the calf. Finally rotate your foot to the outside and repeat the stretch. You should feel it on the inside of the calf.
Read this article for more detail on the three stretches to do every day.
Always do both calves in the morning when you awake and in the evening before you go to bed. This may seem like a lot of stretching, but if you stretch correctly, it is a time to relax your mind and create a little meditative state 5 minutes at a time. If you want to see a video on stopping Plantar Fasciitis, go to my YouTube page,
