Using Acupuncture to Treat Tendonitis

A Case Study on Posterior Tibial Tendonitis Treated Successfully with E-Stim (Electro-Acupuncture)

Acupuncture is a great modality for the treatment of injuries, whether acute or chronic. This particular injury had elements of both, with the onset of pain occurring suddenly during an hour-long run. The condition had been developing over the previous 4 months of training while the patient was in the process of increasing her mileage in order to run a half marathon. The pain was sharp and located on the right side only, inferior and posterior to the medial malleolus (inner ankle).

The patient was advised by a PT to rest her ankle and perform ice massage.  She took about a month off of running, did some irregular icing, and received very deep massage work, but the pain recurred immediately upon running.  She started seeing a different PT about 2 months after the onset of the pain, and a few weeks after that started to receive acupuncture. At this point, she had reduced her running from 5x/week to 3x/week and dropped her mileage to below 3 miles a run. She always took a day off between runs, and performed regular strengthening exercises assigned by the PT. After a few treatments using local tender points and moxibustion, I switched to e-stim. She came in 3x/week for 3 weeks. I needled Ki 2 and 7 and Sp 4 and 6 with e-stim at medium frequency for about 25 minutes at each visit. Following the 3rd week of this treatment, she reported her first pain-free run in 6 months. She has spent the past month pain-free and started to very slowly rebuild her mileage. Treatment frequency is now about once a month.

Do you have an injury? Are you in pain? Acupuncture can help facilitate the healing process. Get in touch for a free consultation.

Acupuncture for Plantar Fasciitis

Keeping You on Your Feet

People who use their feet a lot are at risk of developing plantar fasciitis, a painful condition wherein the fascial tissue of the underside of the foot becomes inflamed and loses elasticity. It is seen often in athletes and those with occupations which keep them on their feet: runners, dancers, wait staff, even acupuncturists. The degree of pain ranges broadly and is often worst at the start of the day.

Conventional treatments include:

• rest (which workers can’t afford and athletes can’t imagine)
• massage (there’s even a subspecialty called reflexology, which focuses on the feet)
• steroid injection (which carries potential drug side effects and is a potentially temporary and painful solution which can rupture the fascia, an even worse condition)
• icing (which can stop pain temporarily but in the process also stops the flow of qi, which according to East Asian Medicine actually lengthens recovery time and/or causes future damage)
• surgery (which carries risks such as bad reactions to anesthesia, infection, potential for nerve injury, rupture of the fascia, and it isn’t even guaranteed to resolve your pain)
• orthotics (custom ones can be pricey, though there are affordable options; it’s not a guaranteed fix, however)
• stretching (free and carries additional health benefits of its own)

Luckily, there are alternatives. East Asian Medicine can treat the pain of plantar fasciitis through many different approaches, including traditional acupuncture, e-stim (whereby a gentle electrical current is run through acupuncture needles), moxibustion, and tuina.

To read more about acupuncture and plantar fasciitis, try some of the following links:

• Runner’s World article on e-stim (electro-acupuncture) treatment
• Acupuncture Today article on e-stim treatment
• Medical Acupuncture online journal article on e-stim treatment
• Livestrong article links

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