Video exercises for foot pain

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Our videos have been provided courtesy of Physiotec. The creators of innovative and adaptable exercise software for physiotherapists. 

We recommend that you seek advice from a physiotherapist or healthcare professional before starting any new exercise regime.  If any of these exercises worsen your pain, please seek urgent medical advice.

Stretching calf sitting

  • Sit down with one leg outstretched and the other bent.
  • Place a strap around the ball of your outstretched foot and hold the ends of the strap in your hands.
  • Pull up against the strap until you feel a stretch at the back of your leg.
  • Maintain the position.
  • Repeat the above with your other leg.

Calf stretch with leg swing

  • Lean forward with your hands on a table or wall and keep the rear heel down and toes pointed inward. You should feel a comfortable stretch your rear leg's calf.
  • From this position, swing the front leg side to side.
  • Keep the rear leg straight and your spine tall.

Plantar fascia release

  • Sit on a straight back chair with one foot on a tennis ball, the other foot flat on the floor and your back in a neutral position (slightly arched).
  • Roll the ball under the arch of your foot from heel to toes.

Intrinsic foot muscle

  • Stand in front of a wall with your knees slightly flexed. Place your hands on the wall.
  • Increase the height of the arch by doing an inversion and actively attempt to approximate the head of the first metatarsal toward the heel without flexing the toes.
  • Keep the pressure on the metacarpal head without clinching on the ground with the toes.
  • While maintaining the contraction on one foot, lift the other leg off the floor and keep the knee of the weight-bearing leg flexed 10-20 degrees.
  • Hold the position as recommended and try to maintain the arch as steady as possible.
  • Slowly lower the arch back to the relaxed state under control.
  • Repeat.

Medial reach with foot

  • Stand on the involved leg.
  • Glide the opposite leg directly to the side as far as possible (pain-free) by bending the involved knee.
  • Return to the starting position without touching the foot down.

Toe flexion w/ plantarflexion

  • Begin in a seated position with the ankles pointing downward. Maintain this position, then flex and relax the toes.

Standing soleus stretching

  • Stand and place both hands on a wall, with your feet about half a meter from the wall.
  • Place one leg behind the other and slowly bend the knees while keeping the heels on the floor until you feel a stretch in the calf of the back leg.
  • Maintain the stretch and relax.
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