A Deep Dive Into Feet
We are starting a new thing at Encompass! Every two weeks, we will have a new area or topic we will talk about, give self-care tips on and share my thoughts around. This first time is about feet! You can find a few posts on our Instagram and Facebook pages talking about feet, and how we can help you with your foot pain. Here’s the thing; our feet carry us around all day every day. They take on a lot of work, and we don’t thank them enough. And if we have something wrong with our feet, it can throw off the entire way we walk, creating more problems throughout our whole body. If you have foot pain, get help! Fortunately, we have some ideas for you. :)
Foot Conditions We Have Helped
In the 5+ years that I’ve been practicing massage, I have had many, many clients with foot pain. A few conditions that come to mind especially are first and foremost, plantar facsiitis. If you can hardly walk in the morning, your foot is tight and painful, but it starts to ease as you walk around, and then eventually it feels okay, you probably have plantar fasciitis. The thing is, this happens every day right? It’s so painful. Massage can help you!! This is one of the conditions that I have seen so much benefit with massage. Schedule an appointment, your feet will thank you!
Another condition we often work with is arthritis. While we can’t directly help the arthritis, massage around those joints is very soothing and relaxing. Also, increased blood flow helps to make the area feel great and bring down some of that inflammation. We also use essential oils in combination with the treatment as a tool to help with the inflammation and pain.
Neuropathy in the feet is a big concern. It is often a side effect of diabetes, and does not feel good. Anything you can do to keep up great circulation in the feet is a plus. This includes massage! We are very careful when it comes to neuropathy, depending on how much you can feel, but we can definitely relax the feet, sooth those nerve endings and bring in more blood supply to also support your nerves. It can help to take some of that stress off as well!
Overall, foot massage is one of my clients favorite areas to have massaged. We use our feet constantly, and when we love them back, it feels amazing!
Self-Care Tools
There are a few things that we recommend to do at home, that can also help a lot for foot pain. You could do this in between sessions, to extend the healing period.
Trigger Point Therapy Ball. We sell these at Encompass now! They are small, round balls that you can step and roll your foot on to release some of the tension. The only reason I recommend these over tennis balls is because they are harder, will be able to get deeper and won’t collapse if you put too much pressure. When rolling the bottom of the foot; if you find a tender spot, stop there and press it or do small circles in the area for a couple minutes! Do this until it starts to feel better, or you notice the spot release. If it’s a stubborn spot, just keep moving and come back to it as needed.
Frozen Water Bottle. Icing helps a lot with inflammation. Inflammation is present with plantar’s fasciitis, so icing will help bring down the inflammation and help heal. If you put a disposable water bottle in the freezer, you can roll that on the bottom of your foot and use it for tension and to decrease inflammation at the same time. Win-win!
Stretch those feet! You can use the Trigger Point Ball and put the ball of your foot on top of the ball, lean in and feel the stretch in the bottom of your foot. (Shown below)
4. Essential Oils can also support and help with pain. Peppermint, panaway and lavendar are a few of my favorites for stress and tension. Just put a drop on your hand and apply to the bottoms of your feet!
You can take some of this into your own hands at home! Of course for function, so much of it depends on how you are taking care of and loving your body and spirit. We also have an e-course with guided foam rolling techniques for general use and seven different areas of the body, how to use the Trigger Point Ball, and 10 spots we always use it for & 10 different stretches! It’s a great resource to return to again and again. Working on yourself at home can have a great affect on your body between appointments and keep you feeling great!
Reflexology
Many people have heard of reflexology, and it is a technique I have learned, and love it! Reflexology is based on the idea that all of your organs are reflected in your feet from top to bottom, like your body. So your big toe is your head, the ball of your foot is lungs and heart, middle of foot is digestive organs, and so on. It may sound a little crazy, but I have seen this to be true after working on many people! If you are having issues with a certain area, reflexology can definitely be something we try to help and relieve that. At Encompass, you can mix and match services, so you can do a half hour of reflexology and a half hour of regular massage. Or you can do a full hour of reflexology. It’s your choice!
I hope this blog post helped you gain some knowledge about foot pain, and gave you some tools to help you get rid of it! If you know someone who is suffering, send them the link to this post, or let them know we can help! Relieving your pain so that you can live better life is our mission, we are here for you.
If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to comment below, or send us a message!
XO,
Nikki
