If you think you have Plantar Fasciitis or just have general pain in your feet, you may need to learn about trigger points and how to relieve the pain.
And if you don’t know what trigger points are, you can learn all about them in the beginning of my Ultimate guide to Trigger Pointing page. Foot massage techniques and trigger point therapy has helped me get rid of pain across my entire body and I really want you to feel this great!
Happy reading!
Locations of Common Trigger Points
Here are the locations of the most common areas of pain, and the techniques I recommend you learn to target those specific areas.
You may find that after spending a lot of time on your most tender trigger points, that you aren’t feeling better. This could be because your issue may be following a “referral pain pattern”.
This is when a trigger point in a different location is causing pain in your foot. This means that you will have to look into how to target your calves with trigger points and stretches to relieve the pain.
Several muscles in the foot and lower leg can develop trigger points that contribute to discomfort and restricted movement. The most affected areas include:
Arch of the Foot
Tension in these muscles often leads to a deep, persistent ache along the bottom of the foot, particularly noticeable when walking.
Heel
Trigger points in this region frequently cause sharp, localized pain near the heel, closely resembling plantar fasciitis symptoms.
Ball of the Foot
Stiffness in these muscles can limit toe mobility and contribute to discomfort in the forefoot.
While these are some of the most common trigger points, each person’s experience with pain will vary. Here are even more areas to use these techniques to fix your foot pain
- Toe pads
- Phalanx trigger points
- Outer edges and diagonal edge work
- Ankle malleoli
- Calf Muscles (Gastrocnemius & Soleus): Tightness here can send referred pain downward, straining the Achilles tendon and plantar fascia. Many people overlook tight calves as a major factor in foot pain.
- Anterior Tibialis
Pro Tip: You have to experiment with self-massage and pressure techniques on all these areas and even more around them to truly fix your feet.
Trigger Point Massage For Foot Pain Techniques
Now that you understand where the trigger points tend to be, it’s time to take action. Below are the best techniques I use for my feet:
Pressure:
The simplest trigger point technique. Using a tool (lacrosse ball, golf ball), apply firm pressure to the area without any movement. Holding this pressure allows the muscle to gradually release and is a great starting point for the rest of these styles.
Pin and Stretch:
This method builds on the pressure technique by pinning the muscle in place and then moving a joint to create an active stretch. This helps break up the muscle adhesions extremely well.
Rolling Along the Muscle Fibers:
Adding movement to trigger point therapy, this technique involves rolling along the length of the muscle to promote relaxation and identify tight areas needing extra attention.
Rolling Across the Muscle Fibers:
Similar to rolling along the fibers, but instead of following the muscle’s length, you roll across it, almost like strumming a guitar string. This motion helps release adhesions and highlights deeper areas requiring work.
Circular Motions:
Particularly useful for the foot, circular movements help break up tissue adhesions in key areas like the heel, arch, and ball of the foot. This technique enhances blood flow and improves mobility.
While trigger point therapy is powerful on its own, it’s most effective when combined with stretching. Be sure to follow up with targeted foot and calf stretches to reinforce the benefits and prevent tightness from returning.
For a list of my favorite body work tools and where to get them click here!
Foot Massage Trigger Point Tips And Tricks
This whole article has delved into the techniques and areas that you can fix on your own with tools that are very easy to get. If you pair that work with the foot stretches that you can find on my Ultimate guide to Stretching, you will be one step closer to bullet proof feet!
If you find that you are very sore after a session of trigger pointing, you may want to back off the pressure a little bit. It is definitely possible to overdo it and damage the tissue in an effort to make it better. Slow and steady wins the race here.
Let me know what you think below!