Heal the Pain: Plantar Fasciitis Startup Pain in the Morning

Have you ever wondered why those first few steps getting out of bed in the morning, or when you get out of a car, it’s so tough, and painful, to walk?

Your doctor may have told you have you have plantar fasciitis, Achilles tendinitis, or really any number of pains caused by calves that are too tight. I can guarantee you your doctor can’t answer WHY those first steps are so difficult.

How You Got to Where You Are

During the first part of your life, the length of your calves is what you could call “normal.”

The problem is, each year that goes as we age, our calves get shorter.

Say that you exercise—which is a positive thing: this will actually also work to tighten your calves in most cases. (Read more on that here.) But as you age, your calves do get shorter and shorter, with various lifestyle factors affecting that change.

By the time you are in your 40s or 50s, your calves have gotten “too short.” Also known as equinus. For some people, they may not ever experience pain. However, for the majority, they also don’t experience pain, until one day, the incremental damage done to the foot and ankle passes a certain threshold.

So when we wake up in the morning that day, and we have a combination of stiffness and pain, we say to ourselves, “Where did this pain come from?” We feel better when that pain improves a bit as we walk, but then it happens again and again, day after day. We like to refer to it as the equinus Groundhog Day.

And it only gets worse, both the equinus deformity and the resulting problems.

Age Smarter: Stretch Your Calves

Despite the fact that the calf inherently tightens as we age, this does not mean we have to experience heel pain just because we are getting older.

When you stretch your calves each day—you can restore the normal intended length in your calf muscle.

It takes a bit of patience, but with diligence comes a reward: waking up with no pain!

Maybe age isn’t the real reason you have pain in your heel when you wake up, or when you get up after sitting at your desk for a prolonged period. Remember that lifestyle factors such as a high level of activity, or if we took a break from activity and we are getting back into exercise, also can contribute to the calf tightening.

Just because of these factors, we don’t just have to accept the pain. There is a solution, and there is a way to re-gain your quality of life back. And it is basically free and without risk.

Calf stretching is powerful medicine.

Calf stretching is the definitive treatment, and that’s why you will continue to hear us say, “Save your feet, stretch your calves!”