Plantar Fasciitis, Is Stretching Good For It? And How to Stretch Safely
There are many philosophies and theories and practices about combining stretching with Tendonitis of the Plantar Fascia.
Let's keep it simple and just answer the question Is Stretching good for Plantar Fasciitis (PF)? The answer depends on how far along the Tendonitis Dynamic is.
New Plantar Fasciitis If a person is -just- beginning to feel ache or pain in the foot, then stretching is an important and valuable activity.
If one catches PF early enough, it is simple and easy to keep it away.
As the PF dynamic first develops, there is little if any damage to the plantar fascia.
Muscles and connective tissue are shortening, and they have been doing that for a good long while even before a person feels any ache or pain.
So stretching can help keep muscle and connective tissue lengthened and mobile, can disrupt the dynamic of increasing tightness and then tightness and pain, and can prevent further damage that makes Plantar Fascitis worse.
Established Plantar Fasciitis Most people start actually admitting that they have a foot problem after they have been hurting for months and months, and even years of off and on and then consistent patterns of pain.
We humans have this ability to ignore growing problems until its too big a problem to ignore anymore.
Silly humans.
Still, it happens.
Is stretching a good option at this point? Yes and no.
If you do it right, it is helpful.
If you do it wrong, it can be harmful.
Tendonitis of the Plantar Fascia means that there are millions of tiny rips and tears in the connective tissue that connects everything in the bottom of the foot.
Scar tissue lays down to heal the tissue, but scar tissue is structurally weaker than the original tissue.
So it rips and tears easier.
Combine that with a general ecology in the foot that is dryer, has poor circulation, and is more brittle, and more fragile than it should be, and you can see how stretching the wrong way could help makes things worse by literally pulling fibers apart.
The body does not like fibers being pulled apart.
If it notices that happening, it will put all its effort into trying to protect you from more harm, which ironically makes things worse.
How To Stretch Your Plantar Fascia Safely If you are going to stretch, you must do two things.
First, you must warm up the tissue of your feet -before- you stretch.
Whether you use a hot soak to get blood to the area, or self massage the feet, or shake them out for a little while, it is vital that you warm up the feet before you stretch.
You want to make the tissue as supple and mobile as possible before you go pulling on the tissue in various directions.
Second, you must focus on LENGTHENING the tissue, as opposed to STRETCHING it.
This means you must be gentle, take your time, and allow the tissue to become longer, as opposed to forcing a stretch.
If you feel a sensation of pain, back of, because if you feel pain, your nervous system is feeling pain, and you must not make that sensation happen.
Soft, easy, gently, and repetitively.
Work the tissue longer, don't force the tissue and pull it apart.
And, it takes practice to figure it out.
We all want a magic bullet, but there isn't one.
There are many variables in place with established Plantar Fasciatis.
Stretching the RIGHT way will help deal with more than one of them, and, if you're lucky and persistent, just may help your body get rid of all of your pain.
Let's keep it simple and just answer the question Is Stretching good for Plantar Fasciitis (PF)? The answer depends on how far along the Tendonitis Dynamic is.
New Plantar Fasciitis If a person is -just- beginning to feel ache or pain in the foot, then stretching is an important and valuable activity.
If one catches PF early enough, it is simple and easy to keep it away.
As the PF dynamic first develops, there is little if any damage to the plantar fascia.
Muscles and connective tissue are shortening, and they have been doing that for a good long while even before a person feels any ache or pain.
So stretching can help keep muscle and connective tissue lengthened and mobile, can disrupt the dynamic of increasing tightness and then tightness and pain, and can prevent further damage that makes Plantar Fascitis worse.
Established Plantar Fasciitis Most people start actually admitting that they have a foot problem after they have been hurting for months and months, and even years of off and on and then consistent patterns of pain.
We humans have this ability to ignore growing problems until its too big a problem to ignore anymore.
Silly humans.
Still, it happens.
Is stretching a good option at this point? Yes and no.
If you do it right, it is helpful.
If you do it wrong, it can be harmful.
Tendonitis of the Plantar Fascia means that there are millions of tiny rips and tears in the connective tissue that connects everything in the bottom of the foot.
Scar tissue lays down to heal the tissue, but scar tissue is structurally weaker than the original tissue.
So it rips and tears easier.
Combine that with a general ecology in the foot that is dryer, has poor circulation, and is more brittle, and more fragile than it should be, and you can see how stretching the wrong way could help makes things worse by literally pulling fibers apart.
The body does not like fibers being pulled apart.
If it notices that happening, it will put all its effort into trying to protect you from more harm, which ironically makes things worse.
How To Stretch Your Plantar Fascia Safely If you are going to stretch, you must do two things.
First, you must warm up the tissue of your feet -before- you stretch.
Whether you use a hot soak to get blood to the area, or self massage the feet, or shake them out for a little while, it is vital that you warm up the feet before you stretch.
You want to make the tissue as supple and mobile as possible before you go pulling on the tissue in various directions.
Second, you must focus on LENGTHENING the tissue, as opposed to STRETCHING it.
This means you must be gentle, take your time, and allow the tissue to become longer, as opposed to forcing a stretch.
If you feel a sensation of pain, back of, because if you feel pain, your nervous system is feeling pain, and you must not make that sensation happen.
Soft, easy, gently, and repetitively.
Work the tissue longer, don't force the tissue and pull it apart.
And, it takes practice to figure it out.
We all want a magic bullet, but there isn't one.
There are many variables in place with established Plantar Fasciatis.
Stretching the RIGHT way will help deal with more than one of them, and, if you're lucky and persistent, just may help your body get rid of all of your pain.
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