Q: “I WOKE UP WITH PAIN IN MY FOOT THREE DAYS AGO, AND IT HASN’T GONE AWAY. CAN PHYSICAL THERAPY HELP ME?”
A: This is a common question we hear from a lot of people.
Before I answer this for you, I want to walk you through a simple test. We will call it the “Foot Pain Audit,” and it will tell us if PT can help you or not.
Phase 1: The “Stand and Walk in the Morning” Test 1. After waking, stand up and walk 3 feet. 2. When you bear weight, does it hurt on the bottom of your foot or heel? 3. Does your pain go away as the day goes on?
Is your pain worse in the morning after you wake up, or is it the same all the time? If you felt pain, soreness, or stiffness standing up in the morning, then check here. Phase 2: The “YES” Toe Pull Test 4. Sit in a chair, keeping a good posture. 5. Cross your painful foot over the opposite leg (like you are sitting like a man) and pull your big toe back toward your ankle as far as possible. 6. Repeat with your other big toe. Did you have any pain, soreness, or stiffness in one toe more than the other? If so, write it down here, and note what you felt and what movement it was. (For example, “My right toe was stiff and could not go back as far as my left one.”) _______________________________________________________________________________________ Phase 3: The “Plantar Fascia Tenderness” test: 7. Sit in a chair, keeping a good posture. 8. Cross the painful foot over the opposite leg. 9. Press your fingers into the arch of your painful foot. Was one side more tender than the other? Write down what you felt here: ________________________________________________________________________________________ Now that the test is done, what were the results? A simple rule we use in PT is: If the pain is “Reproducible,” then it’s “Reducible.” This means that if one of these movements made your foot pain, soreness, or stiffness worse, then there’s a good chance we can help you in physical therapy.
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