The older sister needed one session; the younger sister needed three sessions over three weeks, followed by maintenance.
At a glance
Unbearable foot pain from plantar fasciitis was affecting two sisters’ quality of life. The older sister’s pain was gone after one treatment, and the younger sister’s after three.
Presentation
Two sisters both spent their whole working day walking and standing, and both developed unbearable foot pain. The older sister had pain only on the sole of her right foot, along with pain in her left shoulder. The younger sister had pain in both feet that extended into her ankles and lower legs, and she also had mild varicose veins.
Diagnosis
- Foot pain: plantar fasciitis, caused by flexible flat feet, which in turn came from tightness in the tendon connecting the heel bone and the big toe.
- Older sister’s shoulder pain: Qi stagnation on the Triple Warmer (TW) and Large Intestine (LI) meridians.
- Younger sister: blood stasis, phlegm dampness, and Yin and Yang deficiency.
Treatment
- Acupuncture for the foot pain — needling the tight tendon connecting the heel with the big toe, plus UB-57 (Chengshan), KD-4 (Dazhong), KD-3 (Taixi) and UB-60 (Kunlun) for the younger sister’s ankles and lower legs
- Acupuncture for the older sister’s shoulder pain — “KD-3-7A”: needling tight, swollen spots between KD-3 (Taixi) and KD-7 (Fuliu) on the leg with a reducing method, using Dr. Tan’s balance method
- Herbal medicine — Dr. Haixia Ni’s herbal mixture for the younger sister’s varicose veins, which also breaks up blood stasis and clears mild phlegm dampness
Home care: in children, foot pain from flexible flat feet and plantar fasciitis can be resolved permanently. Adults need to keep wearing orthotics to support the arch even after the plantar fasciitis and foot pain have been treated.
Result
- The older sister’s shoulder pain went away the moment the needles were inserted between KD-3 and KD-7, and it didn’t come back.
- The older sister’s foot pain was completely gone after the first treatment.
- The younger sister’s foot pain and varicose veins cleared after three sessions over three weeks. She continued with maintenance treatment to fully clear the blood stasis and phlegm dampness and tonify her Yin and Yang.
The older sister is relatively healthy with strong healing power, so her problems resolved quickly. The younger sister’s body was more deficient, so it took longer to resolve her problems and strengthen her body.
Additional notes
This reflects an individual patient experience, not clinical trial data.
Results vary from person to person depending on the condition, its severity, and how an individual responds to treatment. TCM and acupuncture are not a substitute for care from your physician or another regulated health professional. If you’re dealing with a serious or urgent symptom, please see a doctor first.