Toe grip (to strengthen the foot muscles to improve balance): Drop a sock on the floor and use your toes to grip and lift it off the floor. This exercise helps increase ankle plantarflexion (downward movement of the foot) and strengthens the muscles in the back of your lower leg (calf). Runners in most need of foot strengthening are those who experience a lot of foot injuries. Here are a few simple exercises you can do every day. For this passive foot drop exercise, cross your affected leg over your other leg again. Flat feet; Exercises for overpronation of the foot. Then, use your non-affected hand to move your foot up and down. Terence Vanderheiden, DPM. Heel cord stretch is a specifically designed exercise for strengthening the lower foot and calf muscles. The use of exercises to correct flat feet is not a new concept. The best part about these simple exercise for foot drop is that it does not require any equipment and anyone can perform it at home. If you already have some movement, then add some challenge by doing the exercise without assistance from your … This includes the gastrocnemius and soleus muscles that taper at the base of the calf and merge with the Achilles tendon. These exercises can be performed while wearing properly supportive workout shoes for overpronation, but barefoot is actually better and more challenging. Passive exercises are great for patients with severely limited mobility. If you find yourself getting arch strains, plantar fasciitis, Achilles problems, peroneal tendon pain, or posterior tibial tendinitis then you should start incorporating some foot strengthening exercises into … Toe extension (to strengthen and support the muscles, which in turn will protect the bones of the feet): Wrap an elastic band around all five toes. Repeat five times with each foot. Top 4 Foot Exercises for Peripheral Neuropathy Symptom Relief In 2017, the Diabetes Care journal reported that half of everyone with Type 2 diabetes is managing neuropathy and nerve pain. This exercise is easy to follow and doesn’t take enough time to perform. There is some evidence that stretching the calf muscle will improve ankle plantarflexion. Foot and Ankle Rehabilitation Exercises To ensure that this program is safe and effective for you, it should be performed under your doctor's supervision. Exercising the feet can help retrain them and provide some relief. Hold for 10 seconds, then release. Talk to your doctor or physical therapist about which exercises will best help you meet your rehabilitation goals.

Focus on initiating all the movement from your ankle. This is an astounding statistic and demonstrates how prevalent neuropathy is, especially for those with diabetes. Over a century ago, programs of stretching and foot muscle strengthening were shown to be remarkably successful. Exercises for Flat Feet: Basic Routine. In this video, I’ll demonstrate four of the exercises from the program I used to develop my arches.