I love to treat feet and the lower extremity with exercises. Exercises are a great way of alleviating pain and supporting the arch. They should be coupled with any good biomechanics treatment protocol involving custom orthoses and good shoe recommendations. This article highlights perhaps the most important foot exercise we can prescribe, however I will add single leg balancing, calf raises, and isolated posterior tibial and peroneus longus strengthening.
The exercise demonstrated above has three names: short arch, met doming, or met arcing. They are the same and can be done 2-3 times a day usually from the start of any foot injury. The video below highlights this exercise.
