The benefits of self-massage have long been applauded in eastern medicine. It also happens to be one of the easiest ways to treat your body. It is a great way to help ease your heel pain warm/ soften your heel tissue, soothe your local nerves, help regain elasticity/ strength, improve your circulation, bring much-needed oxygen to your tissue, move swelling out of the your foot and enhance the healing process in your body as a whole. The really great news is it is also super affordable. All you need is a frozen bottle of water, or a tennis ball, or just your own two hands!

As a podiatrist, I use self-massage to soothe my own heel pain.  By moving my foot in a circular motion and massaging my tight muscles, I’m sending additional circulation and blood flow to the inflamed areas when I do this. Why don’t you give it a try?

REMEDY #3: SELF-MASSAGE

II. WHAT KIND OF SELF-MASSAGE

1. Self-Massage
   Use this simple, but direct massage for heel pain: Sit with the affected foot crossed over your knee. Pull your toes back gently with one hand until you feel a light tension in your arch. Put your thumb on the heel and run it up in a circular motion along the fascia. Do this for 10 minutes three times per day.
2. Frozen Bottle Roll
   This is a pleasant treat you can enjoy almost anywhere (even at work!) while sitting down. Get a bottle of frozen water and roll it back and forth underneath your barefoot from the ball of the foot to the heel. If it is too cold for you, wear socks or put a towel over it. About 5 to 10 minutes of this is sufficient enough to calm down the inflammation, but do limit your time to no more than 10-15 minutes a day.
3. Tennis Ball Roll
   Break up the adhesions forming on the injured tissue and improve blood flow by rolling a tennis ball under your foot as a form of foot massage.
4.  Massage Rollers
   You can buy these from stores and just roll them over the foot and heel.

ACTION STEPS FOR SELF-MASSAGE

•  Massage Your Feet for 10 minutes three times a day with your hand, frozen water bottle, tennis ball or massager.

Massage in general is good for your overall health. It is also excellent as a preventative measure. So, even if you aren’t hurting now you want to keep it like that. Giving a foot massage is also a great way to show someone you care! Think about how much your special someone might enjoy a foot massage. You should use self-massage to soften your heel tissue, soothe the nerves in your plantar fascia, release muscle contraction to help gain elasticity and strength, improve circulation of blood, and the removal of waste products that can impede your healing. Just think about it! If you invest 30 minutes a day in your heel health you could avoid prolonging your pain and costly medical procedures.