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Acupuncture/ pressurePain

Acupuncture to treat plantar fasciitis

JR

acupunctureManIt’s a common cause of heel pain.

Researchers from Hong Kong Baptist University report benefit with acupuncture.

First, the details.

  • 53 people were randomly assigned to a treatment group.
    • Needling at the acupoint PC 7: Purported to have a specific effect for heel pain.
    • Needling at the acupoint Hegu (LI 4): Has analgesic properties and served here as the control group.
  • Treatment was an identical method of manual needling applied to the two acupoints 5 times a week for 2 weeks.

And, the results.

  • There were significant differences in reduction in pain scores, favoring acupoint PC 7 at 1 month for morning pain, overall pain, and pressure pain threshold.
  • No serious side effects were observed in either group.

The bottom line?
The authors concluded, “Acupuncture can provide pain relief to patient[s] with plantar fasciitis, and… PC 7 is a relatively specific acupoint for heel pain.”

More on plantar fasciitis and electroacupuncture treatment can be found here.

11/27/09 22:50 JR

Hi, I’m JR

John Russo, Jr., PharmD, is president of The MedCom Resource, Inc. Previously, he was senior vice president of medical communications at www.Vicus.com, a complementary and alternative medicine website.

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