Foot Pain Exercises

Reduce foot pain through foot exercises that alleviate tension and stress in the feet. Although many people struggle with foot pain, there are many things you can do to reduce the pain you feel!

Do you struggle with foot pain? Although a relatively small part of your body, your feet play a large role in enabling you to do what you do each day. Unlike other parts of the body, foot pain often gets “swept under the rug” as a necessary evil when it comes to being on your feet. You probably wouldn’t ignore excessive pain coming from your ear, so why do you ignore it when it comes from your feet?

As you walk, your foot absorbs not just your entire body weight, but one and a half times your body weight as it propels you forward in each step. The average moderately active person is estimated to take 7500 steps per day, equaling out to 110,000 miles throughout the course of his or her lifetime. To put this into perspective, this is equivalent to walking around the earth’s equator FIVE TIMES.

So now that we have put our foot down on the subject (where are our pun-y people at?), here is what you need to know about reducing the pain you feel.

Below are foot exercises that will help you reduce foot pain!

Ball Rolls || Foot Pain Exercises

1. Sit down in a chair with your feet flat against the floor
2. Take a small, hard ball and place it under your foot
3. Roll your foot back and forth, placing pressure against the ball
4. Repeat this for two minutes before moving on to your other foot

This exercise helps to alleviate tension in the bottom part of your foot. It has also been shown to reduce plantar fasciitis symptoms. If you find this exercise is not working as well as you had hoped, try using a frozen water bottle instead of a ball; the cold pressure may help reduce inflammation and swelling in your foot.

Toe Extensions || Foot Pain Exercises

1. Place your foot on your opposite knee and gently hold your toes with your hand
2. Using your hand, stretch your toes forward and backward
3. You should feel the bottom of your foot stretching with each movement. Make sure to listen to your body and not overstretch

This exercise will stretch out your plantar fascia - a muscle that runs along the bottom of your foot. When this muscle becomes inflamed and causes pain, it is referred to as the condition plantar fasciitis, one of the most common causes of foot pain.

Achilles Tendon Stretch || Foot Pain Exercises

1. Stand up straight with your hands against the wall
2. Move one foot about 12 inches back from your other foot while keeping your hands against the wall and both of your knees straight
3. Bend the knee of the front leg and push your hips forward
4. You should feel a stretch in the back of your leg and heel

The Achilles tendon runs along the back side of your calf muscle and ankle. When tight or strained, it can cause pain in the foot, ankle, or leg.

Towel Stretch || Foot Pain Exercises

1. Sit down and wrap a towel around the arch of your foot, holding both ends of the towel close to your body with your foot extended
2. Gently pull the towel towards your body
3. You should feel this stretch in your calf muscles

This stretch is especially good for anyone who feels foot pain when they first wake up.

Heel Raises || Foot Pain Exercises

1. Stand on the edge of a stair with your heel off of the edge
2. Lift your body up on your toes
3. Slowly lower your body until your toes are hanging lower than the edge of the stair
4. You should feel a stretch in your calf muscle
5. Repeat this 10 times, take a break and repeat the interval 1-2 more times

This exercise should be done slowly and with control.

Heel Strengthening || Foot Pain Exercises

1. Stand straight with your legs about a shoulder-width apart
2. Lift your toes so that your weight is placed on your heels
3. Point your toes towards the outside of your body as much as you can without removing the weight from your heels
4. Repeat this 10 times before taking a break
5. Repeat this 2-3 times per week

This exercise has been found to reduce pain in your feet and strengthen your arches. It is a great exercise to do after you have been on your feet all day or just finished a run or a workout.

Alphabet Exercises || Foot Pain Exercises

1. Either standing or sitting, lift one foot a few inches off the ground
2. Using your big toe, write the alphabet in the air
3. Exaggerate the movements with downward strokes
4. Write the entire alphabet in capital letters and lowercase letters before moving to the other foot
5. Repeat throughout the day

This exercise is a great way to improve the mobility of your toe and upper foot. It helps to alleviate tension found in the upper foot often caused by shoes that artificially place tension on the top of the foot.

You can also try our PR SOLES® recovery shoes that have helped relieve foot pain! PR SOLES® recovery shoes contain massaging footbeds with ACUPOINT® technology. The massaging footbeds help to reduce lactic acid buildup and foot pain. It also absorbs impact with each step which can help to alleviate lower back pain as well as joint pain.