This nasty little cycle may cause the patient to be ‘in pain at least somewhere’ nearly constantly (read: don’t be surprised if your hips start to hurt, your Piriformis starts flaring, your shoulders become impinged and your neck hurts constantly!) This is bad, yes.. but the good news is that this can all be changed gradually by having a professional perform Deep Tissue Massage, or ART to break-up the adhesions and forming scar tissue in the Fascia, as a means to restore the appropriate length in the tissue, and also by encouraging the tissue to lengthen every day, by performing the following stretches:
Long Sitting Stretch
1) Sit on the floor with your legs stretched out in front of you
2) Loop a towel around the top of your affected foot3) Pull the towel towards you until a stretch is felt across the bottom of your foot4) Hold for 30 seconds then relax – repeat 10 times
Achilles Stretch
1) Stand facing a wall and place your hands straight out on the wall
2) Step back with your affected foot keeping it flat on the floor
3) Move the other leg forward and slowly lean in toward the wall
4) Stop when you feel a stretch through the calf
5) Hold for 30 seconds then relax – repeat 10 times
Stair Stretch
1) Stand on a step on the balls for your feet
2) Hold the rail for balance
3) Slowly lower the heel of the injured foot until a stretch is felt
4) Hold for 30 seconds then relax – repeat 10 times
Can roll
1) Roll your injured foot (without a shoe on) back and forth from the tip of the toes to the heel over a can
2) Repeat ten times in both directions
Toe Stretch
1) Sit on the floor with your knee bent and foot flat on the floor
2) Pull the toes back on the injured foot until stretch across the arch is felt
3) Hold for 30 seconds then relax – repeat 10 times
There you go! Incorporate these stretches to your daily routine, upon waking and before going to sleep and you will be able to better manage and eventually correct the adaptive shortening in the tissue, causing your pain! Happy Stretching!