You may start exercising the muscles of your foot right away by gently stretching and strengthening them.

Frozen can roll: Roll your bare injured foot back and forth from your heel to your mid-arch over a frozen juice can. Repeat for 3 to minutes. !his exercise is particularly helpful if it is done first thing in the morning. Towel stretch: "it on a hard surface with your injured leg stretched out in front of you. #oop a towel around your toes and the ball of your foot and pull the towel toward your body keeping your leg straight. $old this position for % to 3& seconds and then relax. Repeat 3 times. Standing calf stretch: "tand facing a wall with your hands on the wall at about eye level. 'eep your injured leg back with your heel on the floor. 'eep the other leg forward with the knee bent. !urn your back foot slightly inward (as if you were pigeon-toed). "lowly lean into the wall until you feel a stretch in the back of your calf. $old the stretch for % to 3& seconds. Return to the starting position. Repeat 3 times. *o this exercise several times each day. Sitting plantar fascia stretch: "it in a chair and cross one foot over your other knee. +rab the base of your toes and pull them back toward your leg until you feel a comfortable stretch. $old % seconds and repeat 3 times.

,hen you can stand comfortably on your injured foot- you can begin standing to stretch the plantar fascia at the bottom of your foot.

Achilles stretch: "tand with the ball of one foot on a stair. Reach for the step below with your heel until you feel a stretch in the arch of your foot. $old this position for % to 3& seconds and then relax. Repeat 3 times. Balance and reach exercises: "tand next to a chair with your injured leg farther from the chair. !he chair will provide support if you need it. "tand on the foot of your injured leg and bend your knee slightly. !ry to raise the arch of this foot while keeping your big toe on the floor. 'eep your foot in this position. ,ith the hand that is farther away from the chair- reach forward in front of you by bending at the waist. .void bending your knee any more as you do this. Repeat this %& times. !o make the exercise more challenging- reach farther in front of you. *o / sets of %&. "tand in the same position as above. ,hile keeping your arch height- reach the hand that is farther away from the chair across your body toward the chair. !he farther you reach- the more challenging the exercise. *o / sets of %&. Towel pickup: ,ith your heel on the ground- pick up a towel with your toes. Release. Repeat %& to /& times. ,hen this gets easy- add more resistance by placing a book or small weight on the towel. Resisted ankle plantar flexion: "it with your injured leg stretched out in front of you. #oop the tubing around the ball of your foot. $old the ends of the tubing with both hands. +ently press the ball of your foot down and point your toes- stretching the tubing. Return to the starting position. *o / sets of % . Resisted ankle dorsiflexion: !ie a knot in one end of the elastic tubing and shut the knot in a door. !ie a loop in the other end of the tubing and put the foot on your injured side through the loop so that the tubing goes around the top of the foot. "it facing the door with your injured leg straight out in front of you. 0ove away from the door until there is tension in the tubing. 'eeping your leg straight- pull the top of your foot toward your body- stretching the tubing. "lowly return to the starting position. *o / sets of % . Heel raise: 1alance yourself while standing behind a chair or counter. 2sing the chair or counter as a support to help you- raise your body up onto your toes and hold for seconds. !hen slowly lower yourself down without holding onto the support. (3t4s 5' to keep holding onto the support if you need to.) ,hen this exercise becomes less painful- try lowering yourself down on the injured leg only. Repeat % times. *o / sets of % . Rest 3& seconds between sets.

,ritten by !ammy ,hite- 0"- 6!- and 6hyllis 7lapis- 6!- *$"c- 57"- for Relay$ealth. 6ublished by Relay$ealth. 8 /&%/ Relay$ealth and9or its affiliates. .ll rights reserved.