Stretches to Help Your Feet!
As we ring in the new year, it’s a good time to think about how we treat ourselves and our bodies. Our feet get a lot of use, and it’s important to take good care of them to keep them – and ourselves – healthy and happy. Tight leg muscles can often cause problems with feet, and stretching often helps prevent problems down the road like plantar fasciitis. Here are some easy stretches that your Springfield, VA, podiatrists recommend:
Calf Stretch:
Keep your calves loose by pushing your hands flat against a wall at about chest-level.
Move your right leg forward with the foot flat on the floor (knee is bent), and then extend your left leg straight back. Stretch the leg back and then make sure the back heel is also flat on the ground. Be careful to keep the back leg straight - don’t bend that back knee. Lean into the wall until you feel the stretch in the calf of the straight leg. Hold this for thirty seconds and then switch legs. Repeat twice for a total of three sets per leg. You can perform this stretch daily and up to three times a day if you are tight.
Tennis Ball Stretch:
This stretch massages your arch and also stretches your plantar fascia and the bottom of your foot. It can relieve tightness of the plantar fascia tissue that can cause painful plantar fasciitis.
While sitting, you can place the arch of your foot on a tennis ball and roll it back and forth with the arch of your foot. In time, you can progress to doing this stretch while standing.
Towel Pull:
Tight hamstrings are common and this simple stretch can help. You sit on the floor or a mat with your knees bent. Position a towel under the middle of your left foot with your hands holding each end of the towel. Lie back, with your back on the floor, and raise your left leg while maintaining your grip on the towel with both hands. Keep the leg straight and raise it as high as you comfortably can. Hold the stretch for thirty seconds and then repeat with your right leg.
These are just a few simple stretches that will help keep your legs limber and more flexible, helping to alleviate unnecessary stress on your feet that might cause problems. Your Springfield, VA, podiatrists are happy to answer questions or provide much more information! Give us a call today!
Any information provided above is educational and is not to be referred to as medical advice. Our Springfield, VA, podiatry office can discuss any diabetic footwear and orthotic needs surrounding your specific case of foot and ankle pain.
The Podiatry Center
Springfield, VA's Top Rated Podiatrists Specializing In Foot & Ankle Conditions
The Podiatry Center podiatrists, Dr. Ross and Dr. Pica treat all medical and surgical foot pain, ankle pain, heel pain and diabetic footwear. Dr.Ross and Dr. Pica are licensed podiatrists in Springfield, VA can help bring you relief from foot pain.
Our Springfield, VA podiatry office offers the most effective and state-of-the-art, highest quality podiatry care with a smile, to patients in our local community, including: Springfield, VA, Arlington, VA,Fairfax, VA, Burke, VA, Gaithersburg, MD, Potomac, MD, Annandale, VA, Chevy Chase, MD, Bethesda, MD, Woodbridge, VA, Rockville, MD, Silver Spring, MD and Alexandria, VA.
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