If there’s one part of our body that deserves a little extra love and attention, it’s our feet! They are what connect us to the ground, providing the balance and stability necessary for everyday life. Because our feet are so often overlooked, we don’t usually think to take care of them until after we’re already experiencing pain or discomfort.
Not only do our feet carry the weight of our entire body, but they are also constantly absorbing force and dispersing it throughout the rest of the body so other muscles and joints are able to function more effectively. When you are experiencing tightness, sensitivity or pain in your feet, it can affect pretty much everything about how you move.
Spending just a few minutes rolling the bottom of your feet is an easy and effective way to alleviate and even prevent tension, aches or pains. Plus, keeping your feet happy and healthy will provide benefits to other areas of the body that you might not even be aware of!
The Benefits of Rolling Out Your Feet
Like any other area of the body, your feet are home to muscles and connective tissue, called fascia, that provide support and strength. As we go through life, this tissue can become stressed and damaged due to injury, poor mechanics, or overuse.
As these muscles and fascia become impaired, they tend to become inflamed and tighten up, which can limit mobility, strength, and overall function. This can lead to even more pain and discomfort in not just the affected region, but in other areas of the body as well.
By utilizing our own body weight to apply pressure and roll out these areas of tension and inflammation, we can quickly and effectively relieve pain and stiffness while also triggering a faster healing response. Given that our feet are almost always under stress, with little time for recovery, being able to easily provide this relief ourselves is extremely significant.
What You Can Use
There are many objects you can use to roll out the bottom of your feet, but we wanted to run through a few of the more common and accessible items that you probably already have right at home!
Foam Roller – When you think of foam rolling, you probably don’t envision using it for your feet, but it’s a great option! The wide surface area will allow you to apply gentle, all-around pressure to the muscles and tissues along the bottom of your feet.
Sports Balls – Tennis, lacrosse, baseball, even golf balls can double as fantastic tools to stimulate localized, deep tissue massage across the bottom of the foot. The firmness of the ball will dictate the intensity of the pressure, so if you’re looking for a milder experience, a tennis ball will have a little more cushion compared to a lacrosse ball.
Frozen Water Bottle – If you can handle the cold, rolling a frozen water bottle under your foot is not only great for relieving tension, but is also very helpful in dealing with inflammation. If you prefer the feel of a sports ball under your feet, you can also freeze a golf ball to achieve the same benefits!
How to Roll Out Your Feet
Now that you have your tool of choice, it’s time to get rolling. Performing self-massage on your feet is simple and can be done almost any time or anywhere.
- Find a comfortable seating position and plant your feet on the ground in front of you.
- Place your tool of choice underneath your foot and begin rolling from the ball of your foot, along the arch, and down towards the heel. Once you reach the heel, you will roll in the opposite direction and all the way up the foot to the toes. Repeat.
- Apply as much pressure as you can tolerate while you roll. It may be uncomfortable at some points, but it should never cause sharp or unbearable pain. If at any point this becomes the case, simply reduce the amount of pressure you are applying to the object, or swap out the item with something more forgiving such as a foam roller or tennis ball.
- Perform for 2-3 minutes on each foot.
Tips to Getting the Most Out of Your Foot Massage
Massage the entire foot – A lot of people just want to focus on the arch of the foot, as that’s typically where our aches and pains are located. However, make sure to spend some time at the toes, the balls of the feet, the sides of the feet, and heels.
Don’t avoid those tender areas – As your rolling out your feet, you’ll occasionally come across some spots that feel a little more tender than others. These areas are usually indicators of trigger points, or small areas of tissue tension. As long as it’s tolerable, spend an extra 10-15 seconds applying pressure to those areas in an effort to promote healing and tension relief.
Stand to increase pressure – As you get more comfortable with this process and feel the need to add more pressure, you can also stand while rolling out your feet. When you’re first starting out though, we recommend sitting so you are well balanced and can easily control the pressure.
Easy does it – The goal with rolling out your feet is to break up tension and improve blood flow, without aggravating your symptoms. While some discomfort is expected, especially near the beginning of the massage, be gentle with your feet, and take it slow and steady.
Foot pain is not something that should be ignored. If you are experiencing pain and discomfort in your feet, even after trying self-massage, schedule an appointment or complimentary assessment with a Spooner physical therapist and let us help you stay on your feet!