Naturally Healing Using Chinese Medicine and Acupuncture for Plantar Fasciitis
Every single step – ouch, ouch ouch. The pain that one feels with plantar fasciitis can be felt on every step. As a result, more and more people have been turning to Chinese medicine and acupuncture for plantar fasciitis to heal naturally. The annual cost of treatments for plantar fasciitis is estimated to be between $192 and $376 million dollars (1). Ten percent of people will suffer from it in their lifetime (2).
Plantar fasciitis is inflammation of the ligament that joins to the heel on the bottom of the foot. Pain can be dull and achy, but is often sharp in nature. It can be worse in the morning due to lack of movement throughout the night. It is a much more common condition for people who are overweight or obese and for those who overuse this part of the body either through exercise (runners) or those who stand for long periods of time at work. Heel spurs (calcium deposits) are common as a part of this condition as well.
What are the common medical treatments?
Western medical treatments include over the counter pain meds including ibuprofen or Aleve, steroid injections, orthotics, night splints, shockwave therapy, application of ice, surgery and physical therapy.
While these are the most common treatments available, none of these things really address or deal with the true underlying causes of this condition. Why did inflammation occur here in the first place and why is it persisting?
In Chinese medicine, one must look to the underlying physical, energetic and emotional causes that may be present with plantar fasciitis. Let’s explore these briefly.
Physical Causes of Plantar Fasciitis
Chronic inflammation is often times the result of an underlying viral component that is present at the site of the pain. The reason why we see so much inflammation today is because of what a very common virus feeds on – heavy metals and chemicals. People are full heavy metals and chemicals today, which weaken immune function and clogs up the lymphatic system. The average woman puts on more than 140 chemicals in the morning with cosmetics. These chemical are very toxic. Additionally, many commonly consumed foods in the Standard American Diet (SAD) cause massive amounts of inflammation (heat). If a protocol is put in place to remove the offending foods, giving the body what it needs to put out inflammation (cooling things) and removing heavy metals and chemicals from the body, healing plantar fasciitis naturally can occur within 1-3 months time.
Energetic Causes of Plantar Fasciitis
Many people have had tremendous success using acupuncture for plantar fasciitis. Some believe that acupuncture is some weird unscientific thing. It is only using the recent scientific discoveries of embryology that the acupuncture can be explained. The acupuncture system is largely an electrical system. Think of acupuncture channels like electrical wires that conducts electricity along very specific paths to different parts of the body. These channels exist along connective tissue divides. Science has proven that connective tissue is piezo-electric, which means it is a fantastic generator and conductor of electricity. So if the electricity to a part of the body is not at full power, you may experience pain or dysfunction. Acupuncture helps to turn the power back on. This is why it is so effective at offering pain relief over a series of treatments (5-10 treatments for chronic cases usually are needed), combined with dietary changes, supplementation and emotional support.
Emotional Causes of Plantar Fasciitis
The wonderful book The Body Keeps the Score by Vessel Vander Kolk has proven that emotions massively affect health in the body. Emotional experiences can be the catalysts that provoke health problems. Understanding what those emotions are and using techniques to release them from the body is often the component that is missing from treatment that can help the absolute most to help people heal. The foot and heel of the body have consciousness or negative emotions that really affect that part of the body. Here is what Inna Segal says about it in her wonderful book The Secret Language of Your Body:
“Confusion, internal conflict, doubt. Questioning the essence of who you are. Second-guessing your decisions. A great need to stop and reevaluate your life. Out of flow and balance with life. Feeling like you have lost your strength and grounding. Walking on tiptoes around other people rather than saying what is really going on.”
If any of these resonate with you and what things you may have been experiencing when this problem arose, it is critical to address it emotionally. Emotional release has been used with people and the pain to this problem has completely disappeared without any other interventions. It is possible, but requires an open mind and taking responsibility for your emotions.
By addressing the physical, energetic and emotional factors that present with people who suffer with plantar fasciitis, you can heal in the most powerful and holistic way. Chinese medicine is a complete system of medicine and addresses every part of you. If you would like to set up an appointment and work on all these factors, please call Dr. Scott at 407-255-0314 to set up an appointment today. If you live outside the Orlando /Altamonte Springs, Florida area, phone sessions can be done to address the physical and emotional factors. Dr. Scott has helped many people with this condition just over the phone for people all over the USA. You can heal naturally and holistically, without drugs or surgery.
(1) Young, C. (2012). Plantar Fasciitis. Annals of Internal Medicine,156(1_Part_1). doi:10.7326/0003-4819-156-1-201201030-01001
(2 )DeMaio, M., Paine, R., Mangine, R. E., & Drez, D. (1993). Plantar fasciitis. Orthopedics, 16(10), 1153-1163
