6 Best Heel Pain Exercises for Quick Relief

For the long-term solution of the heel, pain exercises are very important. Research shows that several stretching and strengthening exercises can greatly benefit heel pain and walking patterns of heel pain suffer¹. In this article, we will cover easy but very effective exercises for heel pain. Anyone can learn and perform these exercises at home.

The most common cause of heel pain could be plantar fasciitis. If you want to learn more about plantar fasciitis you can read one of my previous articles. So without delay let us get started.

Best heel pain exercises

Whatever exercises we are going to learn are aimed at releasing the stiff plantar fascia, and muscles of the foot and strengthening the small muscles of the foot. For stiff plantar fascia and muscles, we have stretching exercises. We will also learn strengthening exercises for weak foot muscles.

At the end of the article, I would also brief the on other useful home tips to help you ease your heel pain. Heel pain is quite different from an ankle sprain, which can happen due to twisting, or turning of the ankle joint. But before we proceed, if you would rather like to watch a video on these exercises you can watch it here or else you can proceed further.

#1 Stretching exercises for heel pain

Let me start with the stretching exercise, the first stretching exercise would be the stretching of the plantar fascia. The plantar fascia is a flat soft tissue structure that originates from the heel and passes through the sole of the foot, finally entering into all five toes. So any kind of inflammation and stiffness on this structure is termed plantar fasciitis which causes heel pain.

Stretching this structure is very important and it is very easy too. To stretch this first sit comfortably on a chair. Now to stretch the right side plantar fascia keep your right leg over the left thigh. In this position take your right hand and hold the foot firmly and bend the ankle towards yourself. While bending the ankle at the same time also bend your toes with your palm. You would feel a nice stretching on the sole of the foot, hold this position for 30 seconds and then release it slowly. Repeat the same process 3 to 4 times in a single session on both legs.

Repeat exact same process on the left leg. Here, you have to keep the left leg over the right thigh and proceed with the steps we just discussed. Repeat 3 – 4 times in both the foot.

#2 Calf muscle stretches for heel pain

The calf muscle is the bulky muscle that is present on the back of the lower leg. Due to the heel pain, these muscles also get stiff and we need to stretch this muscle to get some relief out of it. So to stretch the calf muscle our starting position would be a long sitting position. Sit comfortably on a mat or on a bed with both of your knees straight.

Now you can either use a towel or bedsheet or a resistance band for this stretching exercise. In this example, I will be using a resistance band. A resistance band is actually a flat band of rubber that is made up of latex-free rubber. 

For this exercise, first, place the middle part of the resistance band over the ball of the toes of the leg to be stretched. Hold both the end of the band with both of your hands. Now pull the resistance band towards yourself and allow the ankle to bend, and pull it to a point where you can feel a nice stretching on the back of your lower leg.

Keep this stretched position for a minimum of 30 seconds and repeat it 3 to 4 times in a single session. You can repeat the same process on the other leg if you have pain in both of your heels.

Foot muscle strengthening exercises for plantar fascitis

Next comes the foot exercises. There are small numerous small muscles in our foot that help in maintaining the arch of the foot. These muscles have a very important role in propelling the body forward during walking. During heel pain, there is a chance that the small muscles of the sole and the foot may get weaker. This can lead to increased stress on the heel and result in heel pain.

So strengthening these small muscles of the foot is very crucial in the overall improvement of heel pain. 

#3 Towel collecting exercise for plantar fasciitis pain

so the first exercise is pulling the towel towards yourself. This is a very simple exercise, for this sit comfortably on a chair so that your foot remains flat on the floor. Keep a towel on the floor and try to pull it towards yourself using your toes. Try to collect the whole length of the towel which will create a beautiful exercise for the small muscles of the foot.

#4 Scooping exercise for heel pain relief

The next exercise is scooping of the foot. The starting position for this exercise should be the same as the previous one now join both of your heels and take your foot apart and then collect it and scoop it as shown in the figure.

Repeat it for 20 to 30 times in a single session

#5 Standing on toes heel pain relief exercises

The next exercises standing on the toes. For this exercise stand in front of a table or in front of a window so that you can hold the table or bar of the window. This will ensure your safety if you happen to lose balance while performing the exercise. So, in this standing position, you just need to raise your heel and come to a standing position on your ball of toes. Maintain this standing position for 5 seconds and then lower it down slowly.

Repeat this process of standing on toes 10 to 20 times in a single session.

#6 Heel pain exercises tennis ball

For this exercise, you just need a tennis ball. Any normal tennis ball would do. So, keep the tennis ball on the floor and roll it the foot. Roll it for 2 to 3 minutes with one foot and then repeat it with the other foot.

This exercise is a very effective way to release the stiff plantar fascia. You can continue with the exercises as long as you can do them.

Final words 

In addition to these exercises, you can also follow other home tips which will help you relieve your pain permanently. Like when you are going outside and when you are using shoes you can put a silicone heel cup inside your shoes which will help reduce the pain. You can also use silicone gel socks when you are at home and when you are back from a tiring day at your workplace. But before getting one, you should know how to use a silicone heel cup.

you can also give a hot treatment to your feet to get instant relief from the pain. The process of hot treatment is very simple simply, take a bucket of water or a bowl of water warm water, put some salt on the water and dip your foot on it. Keep your foot dipped in the water warm water till the water comes to the normal temperature. You can also visit your nearest Physiotherapy where you can expect ultrasonic therapy for quick relief.

Keep Reading: How do you relieve calf pain? Hint: 2 Stretching Exercise

Sunit. S. Ekka

Dr Sunit Sanjay Ekka is a physiotherapist in practice for the last 15 years. He has done his BPT from one of the premium Central Government physiotherapy colleges, ie, SVNIRTAR. The patient is his best teacher and whatever he gets to learn he loves to share it on his Youtube channel and blog.