Very few people can remember the medical term. Most of them came to my clinic for “heel pain”. The typical symptom is that the heel pain happens as the first thing in the morning after wake-up, then relived a bit, and gets worse as the day goes on. Tender spots are very easily identified at the bottom of the affected feet. 

Plantar fascia is the ligament that connects our heel bones to toes and creates arch of the feet. The heel pain occurs when the ligament gets inflamed. Since it is the pain on our feet, the cause is mainly related to long time pressure on the feet, such as standing, unfit shoes and long distance running. Lower calf muscles’  tension is the one of the commonest reason. 

Due to the sensitivity of bottom of feet, some patients are scared of being needled. I usually explained to these patients: “the acupuncture needles are pretty fine, different from the one you see in the hospital. You will only feel like sort of mosquito bite when the needles go through the skin. That’s all.”A combination of massage with acupuncture always achieve the best result.