Meeting recommended daily exercise and rehab for foot pain

Pain & Rehab Forum [Moderated]
1

Doctors, I have a question about approaching exercise to rehabilitate foot pain.

Suppose you had a patient presenting plantar faciitis and has a history of foot pain. The patient has been avoiding talking longer walks, stairs, long periods of standing, etc. because of their foot pain. Due to this they are not meeting recommended daily/weekly exercise. How would you approach this situation?

Would confronting and slightly increasing physical activity using LISS or some kind of focused resistance training (perhaps banded ankle extensions?) be a good approach to the problem? Absolute rest has already proven to not be a solution, and the literature already tells us this. Could something like swimming or pool walking be a way to avoid pain while also physically rehabbing?

2

The short answer to this is “yes.”

Pool walking is fine, a UBE is fine, I have had patients use a ski erg in the past when I had access to one. In general, finding entry points to increase activity while working through symptoms is beneficial. Sometimes we just have to be creative with the equipment to which we have access an the individuals willingness to try some new things.