Believe it or not, your toes play an important part in keeping you balanced and safe from injury. Their main functions include:
- Balance when you stand and walk – Unless you really pay attention to it, you might not realize how much your toes are engaged when you stand or walk. Try to imagine your feet without toes: then you might realize that with each step, your toes are preventing you from rolling forward, back, or side to side. Now that’s some built-in injury prevention!
- Spring for running – Your toes are your spring point for running or sprinting. The toes give you that final push forward.
- Helping bear weight – Your entire weight is placed on your two feet, and your toes help to take some of that weight.
- Providing grip – While your toes cannot grip the way that your fingers do, they do help when you are climbing hills, rocks, and other surfaces that benefit from the curling of your toes.
So to help your toes play these important roles, we encourage you to include exercising your toes in your overall fitness regimen. The following are some ways you can exercise the toes for strength and flexibility.
Toe stretches: Spread your toes out, hold for 5 seconds at a time, and then release. Repeat at least 5 times on each side.
Toe curls: Scrunch up the toes as tight as you can and hold for 5 seconds, then release. Repeat at least 5 times on each side.
Ball grabs: Use your toes to grab a small ball (marble or ping pong ball) and move it from one plate to another. Do these transfers at least 5 times for each foot.
Tip Toes: Stand on your tiptoes for 10 seconds and then release. Repeat 10 times.
Doing these exercises or other variations with each physical activity or while you sit and watch TV will help you strengthen your toes. It will help with balance, agility, and strength for running or jumping.
If you notice pain or numbness in the toes, be sure to make an appointment at Alamitos-Seal Beach Podiatry Group to get an assessment of your feet. You may have issues like hammertoes or neuroma, which will benefit from treatment. One of our board-certified podiatrists, Dr. Douglas H. Richie, Dr. Jeremy L. Cook, and Dr. Faye E. Izadi can look them over and relieve your pain with podiatric treatment and/or orthotics. Find them at either of our Orange County offices in Seal Beach, CA and Los Alamitos, CA.
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Fill out the form below to reach Alamitos – Seal Beach Podiatry Group, or call Los Alamitos: (562) 203-6151 or Seal Beach: (562) 242-1559 for immediate assistance.
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