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Plantar fasciitis and the use of Acupuncture

Do you suffer from Heel Spur or Planter Fasciitis which in both cases lead to heel pain?

Acupuncture is an effective treatment in treating the common problem of heel pain either as a result of a spur or inflammation in the planter fascia.

The treatment is very helpful in healing the inflamed tissue in the heel area, as well as reducing the pain and associated symptoms.

In majority of the cases, you can see an immediate improvement already during the treatment!

Background:

Heel spur is the name in everyday language for ossification (change in the bone structure) of the heel bone, namely the calcaneus. Such change causes inflammation in the tissue around the bone and nearby tissues. In medical parlance this phenomenon is called Planter Fasciitis. The name derives from the protruding bulge that sometimes appears in X-rays of the heel. This phenomenon is quite common, it exists among 10% of the population in the various age ranges.

Heel spur – Factors:

  • Overweight
  • Overload on the foot – prolonged standing on the foot that causes overload and friction in the foot area
  • Incorrect positioning of the foot while walking
  • Unsuitable shoes
  • Injury to the Achilles tendon or injury to the foot
  • Middle age – people over the age of 45. At this age, the body’s abrasion (wear and tear) processes take place, and there is a decrease in the thickness of the fat layers in the body in general and in the heel region in particular.

Heel spurs – Signs:

Discomfort or pain in the area of the heel bone which is aggravated during exertion, such as walking or standing, and relieved while at rest. There will also be sensitivity when pressing on points in the heel region.

Heel spurs – Conventional treatment:

Conservative treatment that includes the fitting of appropriate insoles and suitable shoes, rest, provision of painkillers and, in more severe cases, prescription of steroidal injections. In extremely severe cases surgery can be performed.

What can be done with the help of Chinese medicine?

Acupuncture is very effective in treating the phenomenon of heel pain and in most cases the healing is fast!

Chinese medicine has a good and effective solution to the problem of heel spurs. According to the Chinese medicine approach, every tissue in the body is associated with a particular organ. Bone tissue is associated with the kidney organ, which is related to the earliest and most basic qi of the body, which is inherited from our parents, or passed on to us as an inheritance, similar to the concept of genetics.

Over the years there is a depletion of the qi in the body – whether as a result of an inadequate lifestyle or of the natural process of depletion of physical matter. This approach explains the high incidence of heel spur in middle age.

The treatment in Chinese medicine for the problem of heel pain is performed through acupuncture. In contrast to the usual treatment in Western medicine, in most cases acupuncture is not done in the painful area itself, but in a region which is distant (distal) from the pain area.

The effectiveness of acupuncture for the problem of a heel spur is high, and in some cases you can even see an immediate improvement already during the treatment!

After a number of treatments, additional benefit can be observed in regards to the the length of time of the onset of pain, as well as it’s intensity, until the point is reached where the frequency of treatments is reduced, and even stopped completely.

In cases of heel spur, it is sometimes recommended to perform a number of treatments in close proximity in order to increase the healing effect.

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