Plantar Fasciitis

Case 1

A 44-year-old female had been experiencing severe left foot pain for the past year.  About 6 or 7 years ago she went to an acupuncturist for foot pain; however, she didn’t feel much improvement. The pain went away by itself after a few months.  This time she was hoping the same would happen, but this time the pain continued for a year.  She felt sharp pain when stepping in and out of the car.  Frustrated, she tried orthotics, which are inserts for your shoes that claim to relieve pain.  Instead, after wearing them for a few days her right foot began hurting.  With an individualized combination of acupuncture, Chinese therapeutic massage, and herbal foot bath treatment she saw improvement in the foot pain after the first 2 treatments.  Around the fourth treatment her some of her pain returned and she felt discouraged, but continued her treatment hoping to feel better.  After this slight drawback, her pain started improving steadily Then after 2 months of treatment her plantar fasciitis was completely gone!

Along with her foot pain, she had been under a lot of stress from both starting her own business and various family issues.  The acupuncture treatment also helped her manage the emotions better.

She also has hypothyroidism and started taking Armour and Isocort 2 years ago.  Since then she had gained 30 lbs, has borderline high blood pressure, and suffers from constipation. With customized herbal formula and acupuncture treatment, she was gradually able to reduce the Armour and Isocort and finally stopped taking them after 2 months of treatment. Her blood pressure has been in the normal range since she started coming to HolliBalance Well-being Center.

Case 2

A 37-year-old female came to HolliBalance with severe pain in both feet.  It began after she did boot camp for two months.  Her pain was so bad, that she could not walk for more than ten minutes.  With acupuncture, Chinese therapeutic massage, and the herbal patch she was able to walk for one hour along the Charles River after just three treatments.  She also has very tight calf muscles and chronic lower back pain, which are actually are related to her plantar fasciitis.  Her foot pain was in good control while she was having acupuncture. 

After the treatments she felt confident enough to play tennis for half a day.  However, after tennis her pain returned.  She came back get acupuncture treatments to relieve her pain, which worked.  She is an active person and does a lot physical activity which may strain her feet.  In her particular case, she may need to have repeated treatments.

She has a family history of chronic constipation and she has been doing great with just one herb taken nightly.