Plantar Fascia Stretch | Plantar Fasciitis Treatment

DiGiovanni et al. from the year 2003 have compared the standard Achilles stretch with a plantar-specific stretch for 8 weeks and have found superior outcomes regarding pain and function. So here’s the stretch:

To stretch the fascia at the affected foot, cross the affected leg over your other leg while placing the fingers across the base of the toes. Then pull back the toes towards the shin until you feel a stretch in the arc or plantar fascia. You can use your other hand to palpate the tension in the plantar fascia to confirm the stretch. 

You should hold this stretch for 10s, perform about 10 repetitions for 3 times a day.

A study by Rathleff et al. (2014) compared this stretch to a high-load exercise for the plantar fascia. Although both interventions seemed to be effective, they found superior results for the high-load exercise.

DiGiovanni BF, Nawoczenski DA, Lintal ME, Moore EA, Murray JC, Wilding GE, Baumhauer JF. Tissue-specific plantar fascia-stretching exercise enhances outcomes in patients with chronic heel pain: a prospective, randomized study. JBJS. 2003 Jul 1;85(7):1270-7.