Arch Support Strapping
A guide to applying an arch strapping to help treat common foot injuries such as plantar fasciitis, heel spurs, flat feet and shin splints.
By Josh Clark
Posted Saturday, 20 September, 1997
An arch support strapping helps provide a needed lift for your arch and can reverse the symptoms of plantar fasciitis, heel spurs, flat feet and sometimes shin splints. You will need 1-1/2 inch adhesive tape and some three-inch-wide elastoplast (basically an Ace bandage with a sticky side). Your local drugstore probably has both.
Attach the adhesive tape to the side of your foot, right behind the ball of your little toe. Attach the tape along the length of your foot, just where the side of your foot meets your foot's sole. Wrap it around to the back of your heel, just laying it on your foot without applying pressure but making sure there are no wrinkles. As you round the heel toward the inside of your foot, pull the tape tight from the heel to the inside of your foot and attach it just behind the ball of your big toe. Repeat the step, overlapping a second piece of tape above the first so that half of its width lies on top of the first piece.
Now take one piece of the elastoplast and lay it crosswise across the sole of your foot, from behind the ball of your big toe to behind the ball of your little toe (sticking the ends of the elastoplast to the adhesive tape). Overlap a second piece behind the first (the overlap should be about 3/4 inch). Add a third and, depending on the size of your foot, a fourth piece of elastoplast until you have covered the sole of your foot back to the middle of your heel. Be sure neither the elastoplast nor your skin have any wrinkles as you strap your foot; otherwise you're courting blisters.
Finally, take two pieces of adhesive tape and apply them to your feet over the first two pieces (to cover the ends of the elastoplast), anchoring down the whole strapping.
Change the strapping every three days or so (it's okay to get it wet -- for the sake of everyone around you, feel free to shower with it).
