Ohhh… My Aching Feet!

A common question or complaint I hear….

“I wore heels or had a standing job all my life, I have plantar fasciitis & pain everywhere, not just in my feet – now I have serious mobility issues!  Can massage help, or is it TOO LATE?”

Don’t give up, it is never too late to add Quality to your Life (do you like what I did there – Quality Life Massage Therapy…. get it?).  There are  specific techniques for massaging active plantar fasciitis, as well as other treatments you’ve probably tried, like icing the area & orthotic inserts in your shoes. One technique that is well regarded but you may not have tried is a night sling that keeps the foot from pointing while sleeping (massage therapists & medical professionals sometimes call this dorsiflection). But the other pains, often caused by the natural process of mincing around, avoiding foot pain, may play an even greater role in your quality of life.

Favoring one side of the body (because there is always one foot that is worse off than the other) can cause tightness in your external hip rotator muscles & tendons.  Left unaddressed, you can even put yourself into a state of pelvic tilt – muscles pulling the bones of your pelvis out of the natural alignment.  Feet lead to legs lead to hips lead to lower back pain – cause & effect…. I hate that.  Massage can help! – and not just in your feet, either.

However, a good massage therapist (like me, right?) can follow that trail of tears and treat the effects of the years in nursing shoes or heels as well as addressing the root cause.  Commonly in a situation with years of foot abuse, I find myself doing a great deal of myofascial release on the hip rotators with good results. Myofascial Release refers to muscles (myo-) & fascia (the cobweb like substance that surrounds the muscles & organs) when the fascia acts like too tight clothing, wrapping and grabbing on to everything it touches and itself.  It’s hard to dance if your dress is too tight, and fascia is just the same.  In the hips, a myofascial release technique is not painful; it is done without lotion and is more like gentle stretching while rotating the hip.  It would be followed by additional stretching and massage.

However, everyone’s body is different, and so is everyone’s pain and their compensation patterns.  A great thing about seeing me at Quality Life Massage Therapy is that your intake time NEVER affects your hands on massage time; you always get your full massage.  So I schedule extra long first appointments to accommodate a longer, more detailed intake and personal assessment.

Take the time to look over my website, and if you have any other questions, I would be happy to answer them.  You can contact me through the website and you are always welcome to leave comments as well.  The best place to ask your individual questions, however, is at your personal intake at your first appointment. Please call me to schedule!  You can reach me at 813-735-2476 or at the front desk of the spa at 813-409-3861.