Foot Pain Treatment Guide

2. Foot Pain Medications

There are a whole range of medications used for the treatment of foot pain. They may to simple analgesics such as paracetamol/Tylenol that help reduce foot and ankle pain, or anti-inflammatories e.g. ibuprofen/Advil that can help to reduce swelling.

You should always consult your doctor before starting on any medications as part of your foot pain treatment.

Tubigrip elasticated bandages are a great, simple way to provide some compression to the foot, ankle and calf. It really helps to reduce swelling and also gives some gentle support. 

Tubigrip is easy to apply and cheap to buy.  It can be useful both in the short term after foot and ankle injuries or for longer term conditions. 

To find out more about how tubigrip works, find answers to frequently asked questions about it and how to get the right size, visit the tubigrip section on our sister site.

Exercises to combat weakness in the foot and calf muscles is a vital part of ankle and foot pain treatment for virtually any foot problem.  The muscles need to be able to work effectively together to support the foot and maintain the foot arches as well as controlling how the foot moves.  As well as having good strength, they also need to have good endurance i.e. be able to keep working all day without tiring. 

In the the foot and ankle strengthening section you will find a whole range of exercises to build up the strength and support around your ankle as part of your foot pain treatment.

6. Foot Stretching Exercises

Stretches are another really useful tool with foot and ankle pain treatment. As well as having good strength in the muscles, you also need good flexibility.  Tightness in the foot and calf muscles makes subtle changes to the position of the foot and how forces are transferred up the leg.  Tight muscles make us more prone to injury and pain and can slow down the healing process.

Visit the foot and ankle stretches section to find out how to effectively stretch the different muscles around the foot as part of your foot pain treatment.

Reflexology is an increasingly popular complementary therapy to reduce pain and stress, and promote healing and relaxation. It involves using specialised massage techniques on various points of the feet and hands that correspond to different areas of the body to improve the flow of blood, nutrients and energy through the body.

As well as helping to treat foot pain it can also help with a variety of conditions elsewhere in the body such as headaches and digestion issues. Reflexology is a safe, non-invasive technique which is easy to learn so you can self treat.

You can find out loads more about how it works and the benefits and side effects in the foot reflexology section.

What we wear on our feet has a big impact on the health of our feet. 

Shoes that are too narrow, too tight or without enough support and protection frequently cause foot problems with the bones, muscles, ligaments and nerves.  Shoes should ideally have a wide toe box, cushioned, flat soles and should be supportive but not tight.

Any biomechanical problems in the foot which affect your foot position, such as having flat feet, make us more prone to foot problems. These can often be corrected by using orthotics (special inserts) in your shoes which can often be purchased off the shelf but in more complex cases they may need to custom made. There are a number of different styles of orthotics that can be used as part of foot pain treatment depending on what is wrong: 

Heel cups simply slip into the back of your shoe. They work in two ways. Firstly, they provide cushioning and help to reduce the forces going through the heel when you walk or run. Secondly, they lift your heel up slightly which reduces the tension through the achilles tendon and calf muscles. They sound simple, but they really help to reduce foot pain.

They are particularly useful if you are suffering from achilles tendonitis, a calf strain, plantar fasciitis or heel bones spurs. You can find out more about heel cups including which brands are most popular for foot pain treatment.

Orthotic insoles help to correct abnormal foot biomechanics such as fallen foot arches, more commonly referred to as flat feet, a common cause of foot problems such as plantar fasciitis. This helps ensure that the forces that go through the foot and up the leg to the back are transferred in the correct way (flat feet often contribute to knee and back problems).

Insoles may be full length, supporting the entire foot, or half length, supporting the heel and foot arch. Find out more about using orthotic insoles as part of your foot pain treatment.

Toe stretchers are a simple yet effective foot pain treatment for a number of soft tissues problems such as plantar fasciitis, bunions and hammer toe. They are often popular with runners to help stretch the feet out before and after a run.

They help to stretch out the muscles, ligaments and tendons in the feet increasing flexibility. There are a number of different styles on the market - to find out how they work, and which ones are most effective, visit the toe stretchers section.