Mary - Plantar Fasciitis
Mary (55 years old) had been struggling with plantar fasciitis for several months. Plantar fasciitis is a very painful debilitating condition caused by inflammation of the plantar fascia, which is a thick ligament connecting your heel bone to your toes.
It causes pain around the heel and arch of the foot, usually worse in the morning when first standing. It can affect mobility and especially climbing stairs.
After the first session Mary felt an improvement in pain but the effect was short lived. I explained to Mary this is common but the acupuncture has a cumulative effect and the more we apply the acupuncture the greater the effect. Mary continued with acupuncture weekly for the following 4 weeks. As the pain reduced Mary found that she was able to exercise more and so improve her mobility and function.
Mary continues to improve and only requires top up sessions of acupuncture if the pain “flares up” due to change or increase in life style activities.
Kath - Lumbar Back Pain, Fibromyalgia
Kath had been diagnosed with fibromyalgia over 10 years ago, she had then recently injured her lumbar spine in a fall. This had left her with constant low back pain, radiating down her right leg to her foot. The fall had also caused an increased in her fibromyalgia symptoms. Her body pain had increased, sleep was affected and general well-being was poor.
After a full discussion and assessment Kath agreed to a course of acupuncture using both traditional and western acupuncture points.
After 3 sessions Kath found an improvement in her sleep, pain and feeling of well-being. We also discussed improved way to manage her pain long term using such techniques as pacing activity, relaxation and sleep hygiene. Kath stated she found the holistic approach to be beneficial and had made changes to her life style accordingly. Kath now attends for monthly top up sessions for the acupuncture which maintains her function and reduces the number and frequency of 'flare ups'.