In this video, I'm going to show you how to get rid of big toe
pain for good. Stay tuned!
Hey everyone, Dr. Rowe coming to you from SpineCare in
St. Joseph, Michigan. In this video, I'm going to go over a
very easy to follow three-part guide that has some great
stretching exercises. Exercises that may give quick big toe
pain relief even in as little as 30 seconds, but hopefully,
we'll get rid of it for good. We're going to focus on
stretching and then going into mobilization or a self release
of the big toe and then finally strengthening everything in and
around it. When you put all of this together, you will get the
best so go through all of the exercises and take what works
best for you. All of these exercises are very easy, very
simple, and can be done in the comfort of your own home. So,
let's get started and fix that big toe pain right now. In the
first part, we're going to focus on getting quick big toe
pain relief with some great stretching exercises. This
first one is my go to. I call it the all-in-one big toe
opener. It's really easy to do. I just need something like an
ordinary tennis ball. You can also use a lacrosse ball, a
racquetball. If you don't have any of those, just roll up a
couple socks into a very tight ball, place it underneath the
big toe. The goal is with this right here is to support the
two joints of the big toe. So, the first one right here and
then the second one right here. I'm going to just place them
right over the tennis ball just like this. The first movement,
we're going to try to take the big toe upwards into
dorsiflexion. So, once we are in position, I'm going to take
the ball of my foot right here in my heel and then drive the
downwards towards the floor. When you do this, that toe is
going to come upwards and you'll feel a very deep stretch
even more so right here into that second joint. Focus on
going into a very deep, comfortable stretch and then
holding that one for about 15 to 20 seconds When you need a
breather, just come back up like this by raising the ball
of the foot. You want to repeat this for about 3 to 5
repetitions and with each repetition, try to drive down
even further to get more of a stretch into that big toe.
Second one we're going to focus on trying to curl the toe
downwards into the ball so let's get into position the
goal with this one I should say the trick is to get it to the
point where you're cupping pretty much from the ball of
the foot into the second joint right here the first one and
then the tip of the big toe is going to be pointing straight
downwards towards the floor once we're in position I'm just
going to press downwards into the ball as much as I can while
cupping around it with my toes you'll feel a very good stretch
with this one. Usually, when I do it, I almost feel like a
pulling motion into that second joint right here going all the
way down to the tip of my toe. Once we get a very deep
stretch, let's hold this one right here for about 15 to 20
seconds. From there, you can just relax and then take a
breather. Do this one three to five times and with each
repetition, try to squeeze into the ball a little bit more.
Always focus on getting that better stretch. The third part,
we're going to focus on a toe spreader. This one is
especially good for anybody that has a bunion formation on
the outside of the toe or an inward tilt of this big toe.
So, I'm going to cup my toes right here even more so the big
toe and the toe next to it around the ball and then I'm
going to focus on trying to spread them out as much as I
can. Once we get that or initial deep stretch right here
into that big toe, I'm going to press down into the ball just a
little bit by curling my toes inwards. When we do this, it's
going to open up that gap right there a little bit more and
bring this big toe a little bit further out. We want to hold
this one right here for about 15 to 20 seconds. From there,
you can relax, take a breather, and then just simply try to
repeat this three to five times. You can experiment with
dynamic motions also to get a better stretch. So, let's press
down in there but this time around, I'm going to focus on
taking the arch of the foot and pressing it down, taking my
foot into pronation. You'll notice that this really offers
a deeper stretch into the foot even more into the arch. Give
that one a try for about 15 to 20 seconds You can also go into
supination. So, taking the foot outwards while doing this and
see if that one helps you a little bit more but go through
all of these motions. If you notice that one just hits it a
little bit differently at that point, put some more
repetitions in there. Always target the movements that you
feel needed the most and I hope that this gives very quick pain
relief into that big toe. This next big toe stretch is a
little bit more advanced but it's going to help us target
different areas of the foot and also the calf muscles which
might be causing big toe pain I'm going to go next to a door
or a wall go right up towards the edge we're going to place
the tennis ball right at the ball of the foot. I'm going to
press my big toe into the edge of that door frame and then my
other toes are going to go off to the side. We just want to
focus on pressing downwards with the ball of our foot into
that tennis ball. What this will do is cause the big toe to
come back towards us in dorsiflexion you'll feel a very
deep stretch pretty much throughout the whole toe all
the way down to the base I should say the ball of the foot
so really focus on feeling that to begin with how we're going
to incorporate a little bit more muscles into this is then
bending our knee and then kind of lunging forward with our
body weight the more that we lunge forward the more pressure
is going to be placed over the tennis ball kind of giving us
nice self massage but it's also going to intensify that stretch
into the big toe so really on trying to go as far forward as
you can. Once we hit a very deep comfortable stretch, let's
hold this one right here for about 15 to 20 seconds. From
there, you can relax, take a breather, and then try to
repeat this three to five times. With each repetition,
just go into it a little bit more. Try to get that nice self
massage and also stretch out that big toe. From there, I
like to experiment with different areas of the bottom
of the foot. A lot of people will have big toe pain and also
arch pain and things like plantar fasciitis. So, is how
we can target that. Let's position the ball a little bit
lower right over the arch of the foot and then I'm just
going to press into it with my foot right here downwards and
then lunge forward. This right here feels really really good.
I mean, it's really targeting the bottom of the foot and I
just hold this one for 15 to 20 seconds, relax, throw in a
couple reps and then I just explore over a different area
and repeat but pretty much go over the whole bottom of the
foot. Travel through the whole arch. If you do notice that one
spot just hits it a little bit better at that point stop over
it throw some more repetitions in it's just a really good way
to not only get a very good big toe stretch but you can target
bottom of the foot pain plantar fasciitis pain and get a very
good calf stretch at the same time in this part we're going
to focus on a self mobilization or self release into the big
toe and also into the first metatarsal the long bone of the
foot we're going to go over three different spots and if
any of these spots are locked up you might get a satisfying
self-pop crack or release into em. So, let's start with the
first knuckle of the toe. You have two of em. One right here
and then one right through here. Let's isolate that first
knuckle and get our contact point. So, I'm just going to
start to pinch into that first knuckle right there and then
just passively move it up and down. What you'll feel is the
joint move. What we want to do is go right towards the bottom
of that joint. So, once you feel it open up, let's go just
a little bit below that. What I'm going to do is take my hand
and I'm going to bend my fingers like this and keep my
thumb straight. This movement, I'm going to do kind of like a
leverage movement like this. Almost like taking the cap off
of a bottle. Let me show it on my thumb right here to
demonstrate it before we do it on our toe. So, imagine this
right here is that first knuckle of the toe. My fingers
right here are going to go right at the bottom and I'm
going to press up into it and then take my thumb right here
and then go right over the top of the toe. The movement is
very easy. What we're trying do is pull up with our fingers and
then pull down with our thumb. What this will do is traction
open that joint and really open it up and you might get a
sudden pop or release with it. So, let's go back to our
contact point right here. Let's find it. We're going to put our
fingers right underneath it and I'm just going to kind of press
down on my toe like this to make sure I'm in a good spot.
I'm going to press into it and then I'm going to take my thumb
right here. Press down into my big toe and then that movement
lifting up by pulling down with my thumb. This causes that
opening traction and again, if this joint right here is locked
up, it probably will give you a nice pop or crack. What you
want to do from there if it doesn't release is don't try to
force it, just get a very good stretch for about five to 10
seconds. From there, you can relax and then do this up to
five times. Just really focusing on trying to open it
up just a little bit more with that good stretch. What we're
going to do next is focus on the second knuckle right here.
So, let's do the same thing. Let's press into there and find
our contact we want to go just a little bit below that this
movement is also very very similar towards what we just
did I'm just going to take my hand right here and I'm just
going to stabilize right below that second knuckle of the big
toe doesn't matter if you kind of go like this with it or
you can just take your thumb like this I find it to be a
little bit easier just kind of clamping down just like that
I'm going to take my other hand and I'm going to place it right
on the bottom pretty much from the ball of the foot right here
all the way up to the tip of the toe and I'm going to go
into dorsiflexion. So, I'm clamping down with this and
then I'm pressing upwards with my hand right here to cause a
very deep stretch into that second knuckle of the big toe.
Press up as much as you can. You might get a sudden pop with
this one. If you don't, you want to focus on not trying to
force it open but just get a very good stretch. Hold this
one for five to 10 seconds. You're just going to relax and
then you're going to do this up to five times. Again, with each
repetition, try to into it just a little bit more. From there,
we're going to focus on the metatarsal right here, that
long bone of the foot. How we're going to find this, we're
going to palpate again or just kind of press into that second
knuckle joint and we're going to feel just below that. If you
go to the top of the foot and start to press down, you're
going to notice that there's a very long bone right here.
That's that first metatarsal right here. So, they tend to
either get raised or come up or they tend to drop so they can
cause pain on the top of the foot and can also cause a lot
of pain into the arch right here and also across the bottom
of the foot leading to big toe pain. So, let's start with a
dropped metatarsal mobilization. I'm going to take
my hands right here and just place them overlap like this on
the top of the foot for stable anchor point. I'm going to take
my two thumbs right here and I'm going to press into that
second knuckle joint. Let's feel again and go right below
that. From there, you can kind of press down and feel
that long bone. We're going to start right at the top of that
first metatarsal into the head of the metatarsal. I'm going to
press down right here with my thumbs and I'm going to keep
pressing in there until I feel a very deep stretch right here.
If this is dropped, you might feel like a big clunk that
metatarsal kind of resetting back into place but I just try
to hold this for about five seconds. From there, I just
relax and then I throw in another repetition driving in
just a little bit further. From there, I'm going to go just a
little bit down and I'm going to repeat this whole process
pretty tracing all the way down to the bottom of that
metatarsal. If one spot just feels like it's really tight
and achy, you can throw some more repetitions in at that
point and just really focus on trying to increase mobility
into that metatarsal. So, focus on areas that you feel need a
little bit more attention. The second part, I'm going to focus
on driving that metatarsal downwards if we have one coming
up. So, I'm going to take one hand and I'm going to cup off
to the side of the foot just like here, right here and I'm
going to take the media portion of my palm and I'm going to
place it right over the top of that metatarsal so let's
palpate right here find our contact point I'm going to take
the meaty portion of the hand right here place it right over
that toe the movement is very easy I'm going to clamp down
with my hands or my fingers right here and I'm going to
press downwards right here with that midi portion this should
feel like you have a very good stable anchor point you can
just really press in there and cause some good motion this one
right here generally will give me a very good self crack into
my foot because I tend to get raised metatarsals even more so
after things like hiking or running but I do the same thing
I press in there hold it for about five seconds throw in
another repetition and then I just move down and trace that
whole metatarsal and if any spot feels like it needs more
tension like let's say right here for me I just throw a
little bit more in there always target again the spots that
need it the most but go through all of those motions and
afterwards do it before and after see how the toe is
feeling hopefully it's moving a better and that just gave you a
ton of pain relief. Without a doubt, if we want to get rid of
big toe pain for good, we have to strengthen everything into
our toes, our foot, ankle, and calf. This exercise can do all
of that. It's known as a towel scrunch. I'm going to be using
a medium-sized hand-drying towel. Just lay it flat. The
position of our foot, I'm going to keep my heel off of the
towel and press down very slightly. From there, I can
just rest the rest of my foot over that towel. The first move
I'm going to try to flare my toes out like this even more so
this big toe try to drive this big toe out as much as you can
from the toe next to it you should feel a very good
activation across the big toe right through here then I'm
going to take my toes I'm going to curl them forward and then
grip that towel and then pinch the towel right in between the
big toe and the toe next to it so kind of like right at that
gap right there and then I'm going to lift up while pressing
down with heel. The more that we bring our foot back towards
us like this in a dorsiflexion, the more activation that you're
going to feel on the bottom of the foot including the arch
right here. So, really focus on feeling that. You'll also feel
it around the ankle into the calf. Once we hit all of that,
let's hold this right here for about five seconds. From there,
you can relax, take a breather, and then you're just going to
repeat. On the next repetition, try to drive those toes out
even more, grip down, and then lift up as much as you can. You
want to do this nice and slowly for about 10 to 15 repetitions
With each repetition, challenge yourself just a little bit more
to help build up those muscles. Afterwards, you can take a
breather and if you feel like you need a little bit more,
throw another set or two in there. It only helps just build
those muscles up and I hope that this right here will get
rid of that big toe pain for good. An important last step is
to ice everything after doing these exercises to eliminate
any irritation or inflammation. The easiest way to do this is
with a homemade ice massager. I took a water bottle, pour a
little bit of water out of it, and then froze it. That way, I
can roll this on the floor over the bottom of my foot. Usually
feels pretty good. I just apply enough pressure in there to get
a nice self massage and the ice is going to take care of the
rest. I try to do this nice and slowly for about three to five
minutes until everything just feels like it's nice and numbed
out. From there, I just switch to the top of the foot by
rolling it over my toes just like this. You can position the
water bottle over any spot that you might feel is a little bit
more warm or irritated but just try to hold the spot for about
three to five minutes until it's numbed out and then you
can just switch over different spots. If you want to attack
more towards the inside of the foot even more so if you have a
bunion, just position the water bottle like this and then press
the foot inwards and for about three to five minutes until it
is numbed out. Just a good way to control any irritation or
inflammation after the exercises. If the exercises
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