"I have been seeing Boyd for almost 2 years for severe chronic migraines. I have seen great results in the reduction of my headaches since I've started acupuncture with him when no other treatment or medication would work. Boyd is very knowledgeable about acupuncture and stays up to date with current practices and techniques. I ask him a lot of questions during our sessions, and he's always able to provide a thorough response that I can easily understand. He listens thoroughly to issues and problems and works with me to come up with the best treatment at each appointment. He's a pleasure to talk to during each session and always ensures I am completely at ease during every step. The only problem I have is that I waited so long to begin acupuncture treatment with him!"
Acupuncture Treatment for Plantar Fasciitis: A Randomized Controlled Trial with Six Months Follow-Up.
Abstract:
Plantar fasciitis is a common cause of heel pain. It has been suggested that some acupoints have a specific effect on heel pain. The aim of this study was to determine the efficacy and specificity of acupuncture treatment for plantar fasciitis. Subjects were randomly assigned to the treatment group (n = 28) or control group (n = 25). The treatment group received needling at the acupoint PC 7, which is purported to have a specific effect for heel pain. The control group received needling at the acupoint Hegu (LI 4), which has analgesic properties. Treatment was administered five times a week for 2 weeks, with an identical method of manual needling applied to the two acupoints. The primary outcome measure was morning pain on a 100-point visual analog scale (VAS) at one month post-treatment. Secondary outcome measures included a VAS for activity pain, overall pain rating as well as pressure pain threshold using algometry. Significant differences in reduction in pain scores, favoring the treatment group, were seen at one month for morning pain (22.6 ± 4.0 versus 12.0 ± 3.0, mean ± SEM), overall pain (20.3 ± 3.7 versus 9.5 ± 3.6) and pressure pain threshold (145.5 ± 32.9 versus -15.5 ± 39.4). No serious adverse event was observed in either group. The results indicate that acupuncture can provide pain relief to patient with plantar fasciitis, and that PC 7 is a relatively specific acupoint for heel pain.
Evid Based Complement Alternat Med. 2011;2011:154108.; Zhang SP, Yip TP, Li QS.; School of Chinese Medicine, Hong Kong Baptist University, Hong Kong, China.