How can a simple massage ball help your heel pain?
These balls will become your sidekick! A small, cost effective way to help your heel pain. Using a massage therapy ball can easily be done at home, when sitting on the couch, and doesn’t take long at all, plus your feet get a relaxing massage. What a win!
Benefits of a massage therapy ball?
Using a massage therapy ball correctly, targets the myo-fascial system (meaning: the body’s muscles and fascia which connect us all together) by applying pressure to this system, to help restrictions and tension and overall pain.
3 ways this can help your heel pain include:
- Improvement in blood flow to the region –> overall assisting healing to structures in the foot that may be damaged.
- Myo-facial release – meaning to release tightness and tension in the foot.
- Massage therapy – reduce pain levels and improve range of motion, allowing the foot to function correctly.
How to use it?
- Use either sitting down or standing up. Put pressure down onto the ball with the weight of your body and roll the ball under your heel for about 30 seconds.
- Move on to the arch region and forefoot area (just behind your toes) and repeat process.
- You can roll the ball forwards and backwards and side to side
Why do we need to roll under the whole surface of the foot if I just have heel pain?
This is because there are four layers of muscles under the foot along with many other structures that connect the back of the foot to the front of the foot. A lot of the time, these muscles and fascia are painful just at the heel, but it is important to treat the whole foot as it all connects and functions together when we move.
Cost? A massage therapy ball at our clinic costs $12.
These balls are heavier and firmer than a tennis ball and have a soft to touch coating on the outside that feels nice underfoot.
Precautions?
- Depending on your level of sensitivity, start with light pressure and work up to firm pressure.
- Never use a the ball over a break in the skin or if you are suspected of any bone fractures.
Remember! using a massage therapy ball is not designed to be a single treatment of heel pain. Most people wit heel pain benefit from footwear changes and strapping. A full biomechanical assessment to assess how your feet are moving when you walk can stop heel pain in its tracks as your Podiatrist can give you specific treatment that works on the exact cause of the heel pain.