Hi everyone. I am Yasuko and it’s time for Massage Monday. First of all, thank you so much for kind, warm congratulations from last week’s Silver Play button. I really appreciate it. It’s so nice to know what I share is making a difference for someone even just a little bit. So thank you so much.
This week I’m going to show you some foot stretches and foot massage for bunion. But even if you don’t have bunions, these are so relaxing for your feet so I highly recommend you try these.
First, stand on your feet and observe how your feet feel. Sit down in a comfortable position. I have some bunion on my left foot but luckily I have no pain. However, I’m learning that it can still cause pain in other parts of the body such as foot, knee, lower back, and neck because foot is the very base of your body and if it’s not balanced, your body will try to accommodate the foot imbalance by getting out of alignment bottom up and even end up with imbalanced eye levels which I have seen.
So let’s get started.
Spread apart each toe and hold for count of five. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5. After all four spaces are done, spread each toe up and down. Lift one up as you push one down for a count of 5. Do it for all the toes. Then grab the outer two toes and spread apart leaving a middle toe for 5. Then spread the big toe and pinky apart for a count of five.
Let’s relax the muscles between the bones on the top of the foot. Overlap your thumbs and press five times on three locations in the valley between the bones called metatarsals. There are acupressure points too in these valleys so you will probably feel some pain if not just from the muscle pain. If you do feel pain, use a lighter pressure.
There are different types or causes of bunions and these massages will not fix it overnight especially if you have severe deformity with the toes overlapping. Massaging is one of the ways to help alleviate the pain and hopefully start of the reversal by loosening the tight muscles and joints but you have to do it consistently on a regular basis.
Let’s loosen the joints. There is no need to force it. If there is pain, don’t do it. First one is the big toe joint where you can bend. Hold the big toe above and below the joint and move up and down five times. Then sideways five times. Then wring five times.
Do the same for the bunion joint. Up and down five times. Sideways five times. Wring five times. Circle the big toe in one direction five times. The other direction five times. Use the hand that’s easier.
Let’s loosen the arch between the bunion bone and inner ankle bone. Overlap your thumbs and press on five locations. It’s easier if you bring the fingers on top toward you. Wring the foot five times on three locations.
Put your fingers between the toes and circle one direction five times. The other direction five times. Again, use the hand that’s easier for you.
If you have a lubricant, apply it and glide away in the valleys with overlapped thumbs five times. And glide away between the inner ankle bone and bunion bone five times.
Stand and observe how you feel compared to before the massage. I hope you can feel your foot is more relaxed.
Massage Monday #446 Foot Massage for Bunion http://bit.ly/mm-446