Acupuncture for
Foot, Ankle,
Achilles
and Heel Pain
Written by Chris Eddy
There are many aspects of gait, stride and posture that can effect the structures around the ankle. The most common irritation of the feet that I see in clinic would be Achilles tendonitis, followed by plantar fascitis, and then in third place peroneal tendinitis (outer ankle pain). But then again, many come in with a sprained ankle (medial and lateral ligament strain), or just a ‘dodgy’ ankle that doesn’t feel right. I.E no one can find anything wrong with it.
So what do we do?
After a thorough set of orthopedic testing of the ankle and calf muscles, tendons and ligaments, we set up a treatment.
Treatment in Chinese medicine is unique. And the strength of it is a holistic approach. That means, that, besides overuse, there must be a reason your ankle is not healing the way it should. This may actually be an issue further away from your ankle such as your intestines or even the regularity of a woman’s period. How does that come into play you ask? Well, it’s quite simple. It comes down to nutrient exchange, inflammation and nutrition. If you aren’t eating well, loosing too much blood or you have chronic inflammation, chances are it’s contributing to your non-healing ankle pain.
Treatment options: So almost always, we will still use acupuncture points around your ankles to help heal the area, however we may also use further points in the shins etc to boost your metabolism etc. At any rate, you’ll always feel better than when you walked in.
