This fascia, or tissue that becomes inflamed, is involved in walking or running. In fact, this disease is often seen in athletes who run/walk a lot, overweight persons, or people with bone spurs in the local area. Plantar fasciitis is the most common cause of heel pain, but it is important for a doctor to distinguish it from other conditions such as a tumor, pinched nerve, torn fascia, or a stress fracture.
The main symptoms of plantar fasciitis are heel pain, usually worse in the morning, when one’s foot first touches the floor. Sometimes the pain is relieved by walking around a bit, but it will come back, with overexertion. For example, walking, running, or standing a lot will cause the pain to return, sometimes worse than before. Resting the foot seems to alleviate the symptoms. It’s important to know that there is usually no swelling or redness associated with plantar fasciitis, although if the problem is caused by a bone spur from the heel, you may be able to feel a bump at the location of the actual spur.
Treatment usually involves lot of things that a person might do at home. The doctor might recommend taking shorter steps and will likely recommend that a patient avoid walking barefoot. Stretching the plantar fascia by rolling the bottom of the foot around on a tennis ball with slight pressure might help. Sometimes doing calf stretches will help as well. Some doctors recommend special orthotics, however, current research shows that a combination of stretching and use of some comfortable store-bought inserts facilitates recovery just as quickly, but at much less cost. Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (such as ibuprofen) also help. In severe cases, support devices or even splints may become necessary, and surgery to relieve pressure on the plantar fascia is always a last resort.
What Can Acupuncture Do for Plantar Fasciitis?Acupuncture can speed the healing of plantar fasciitis by relieving the inflammation of the fascia. According to Traditional Chinese Medicine theory, where there is stagnation (of energy) there is pain. Thus if it is possible to “turn on” the flow of vital energy, or Qì, into the area where the heel pain is, then it’s possible to relieve the inflammation. If the condition is further complicated by bone spurs, it’s possible to both take herbs internally, and soak the feet in herbal formulae that will help to alleviate those symptoms as well. Within TCM, there are as many as three different energetic imbalances that can lead to problems with Plantar Fasciitis. No matter which of these is the "root" cause of the problem, the symptoms or "branch" is always pain. Because nobody wants to be in pain, a TCM practitioner will atempt to alleviate the pain, while treating the underlying cause as well.
This is usually done by inserting a needle into the PC7 point on the opposite hand (for example, if the pain is in the left heel, the right hand is used). While this needle is inserted, the patient is encouraged to walk around for about two minutes or so. During this time, the pain should subside somewhat. Then, the patient is asked is asked to lie down, and the TCM practitioner will insert needles in the affected foot. These needles will be designed to open up the energy flow in all the channels that pass through the heel area. Other needles may also be applied, depending on what kind of energetic imbalance is at the root of the problem.
After the treatment, the acupuncturist will apply Tui Na, or Chinese massage, by kneading and rubbing the heel area, stretching the plantar fascia, and warming up the entire area. Once the foot is warm, the practitioner will press into the painful spot with his or her finger, adjusting pressure to what the patient can stand. He will maintain pressure for 1-2 minutes.
It’s not uncommon to see instant relief of the symptoms in 1 treatment, but occasionally it will require 4-6 treatments before the pain has completely cleared up. With severe, stubborn pain in the fascia, it may be necessary to take a more aggressive approach by putting needles into the plantar fascia (perpendicular to the bottom of the foot) and apply moxibustion (see the section on moxa to understand) to the needles.
Qìgōng (see the section of Qìgōng to know more about this) exercises are often prescribed to patients with plantar fasciitis that they can do at home. Usually these consist of deep breathing with ankle rotations, deep breathing with alternations between pointing the toes and retracting them, and deep breathing while warming the foot up with massage. It’s ideal for these exercises to be done before the patient even gets out of bed in the morning. This will not only help to relieve the pain, but it will ensure that it does not return after initial relief.
Through complimentary use of TCM and Western medicine, symptoms of plantar fasciitis are often relieved very quickly, and the patient is able to return to an active lifestyle of walking within a few days. While there is a need for more medical research in this area, there was one study done in on heel pain. The title of the study was "Treatment of painful heel with combined method of traditional Chinese medicine and Western medicine. Clinical analysis of 900 cases." This study was authored by Chen Bao-xing and Zhao You-lin, and according to their research, the 900 individuals were treated with a combination of injection of corticosteroids, acupuncture and Chinese herbs. Of those 900 cases, successful treatment of the pain was achieved in 650 cases. That's a 72% success rate. Not bad.
By T. Justin Landers, L.Ac.