My 12 year old son is a very keen footballer. He trains with a local sports club twice a week and usually has a match on Sunday.After the game this week he was hobbling around complaining about pains in his feet. His muscles were so tight that he couldn't flex his feet and the tension continued right up through his calves and thighs.
He's usually on the winning side but they had been hammered 9 - 1 by a team of boys who were much bigger and rougher. So the stress of the match probably contributed to the muscular tension.
I made him a warm foot bath with magnesium sulphate which is otherwise known as Epsom salts. This is the kind of salt that's used in vast quantities in a flotation tank to give bouyancy but for a foot bath you just need a few tablespoons.
Our bodies need magnesium to balance with calcium. Magnesium relaxes and calcium contracts. Having an imbalance can lead to both nervous and muscular tension: irritability, headaches, period cramps, cramping in feet and calves, eye twitching, jumpy legs and so on.
The soles of our feet are naturally very absorbent and warm water helps open the pores. I let my son soak his feet for about 5 minutes. He dried his feet and I massaged in some Living Nature Relief Body Balm working it deeply in to the muscles across the soles of his feet and up the backs of his legs.
Relief Body Balm is a 100% natural remedy for aches and pains, packed with warming and stimulating oils which really get to work on aching muscles and joints. It's made with arnica which works miracles on bruises. It also contains peppermint which is wonderfully cooling and rosemary which helps stimulate the release of toxins from the muscles. The base is a healing blend of beeswax with calendula and almond oils.
After the massage, which sent him in to a fit of giggles, he put on some cotton socks. (As much as I love my son I do love my carpet too!) I gave him a wooden foot roller to play with and let him watch Top Gear. So he sat quite happily rolling his feet backwards and forwards and smelling divine.
I happened to have a foot roller but a tennis ball works well too. Pressing down on to it helps open up the muscles in the soles of the feet and once they are opened you can really feel a difference all the way up the backs of the legs.
After a quick supper he was off to bed. As he walked up the stairs with his usual lolloping gait he couldn't believe how much better he felt. And by morning his feet and legs were back to normal and ready for another session of football training.
