Acupuncture and Shockwave Therapy for Plantar Fasciitis: Joe’s Story

Joe is a 33-year-old veteran, runner, and former sufferer of plantar fasciitis. He was also an admitted skeptic of acupuncture and shockwave therapy until the treatments healed his feet entirely and he was able to run a half marathon pain-free.

Exercise and running were a big part of Joe’s life. As someone with asthma, he learned that running was a way to help with his lung capacity and lower asthma attacks. In addition to the physical benefits, he enjoyed the mental benefits that exercise provided.

When Joe began to develop foot pain, he would take a break from running. As a result, his asthma would flare up again. He sought treatment at the VA, but initially they offered medication and told him to get insoles for his shoes. He always declined the medication and relied on his wife, who was a physical therapist, for massage and manual therapy at home. He did try the insoles, which helped with the pain in the bottom of his feet, but caused tendonitis on the top of his feet.

Frustrated, he went back to the VA and said he needed to try something different. This time they had a different answer.

“In the past few years, the VA has stopped just trying to medicate every veteran’s problem and trying to be a little more holistic,” Joe explains. “They’re looking at more long-term treatment options instead of just trying to put a band-aid on and forget it. I was used to them just trying to throw a pill at everything. So I was kind of shocked when they first offered acupuncture. It was different than what they had normally done before.”

“I was pretty skeptical at first,” he continues. “I was straight up with him when I went the first time. I told him I wasn’t really sure that this would work. But I was willing to give it a chance.”

Joe says that he and Garrett discussed multiple treatment options, including acupuncture and shockwave therapy. “I wanted to try just one thing, so that if I got any relief, I would know it was because of that,” he says.

For the first month, Joe’s treatment consisted of electro-acupuncture only. “And I started to get a lot of relief on the top of my foot,” he says. “In maybe nine weeks, the issue with the top of my foot was mostly cured.”

At that point, Joe was open to trying shockwave therapy to see if that added any benefits. In his skeptical fashion, he eliminated the acupuncture treatments and received shockwave therapy only for a few weeks. “I think the recovery was even faster with that,” he says. “I felt relief after the first treatment, so I pretty eagerly went back. I did three or four more treatments that were shockwave therapy alone. And again, just complete relief of the symptoms.

“At that point, I knew both of those things worked independently, so I started getting both. I would get acupuncture first and then shockwave at each session. And my feet are pretty much totally healed now,” he says. “I don’t have any more issues with them. I’m back to running. I just did a half marathon two weeks ago, and it was a personal record for me. I saw Garrett the whole time I was training. I had no issues and am looking forward to signing up for some more races.”

Joe continues acupuncture and shockwave therapy treatments as needed. “I do a lot of weightlifting, and I’ve found that if I have a weird ache or pain from something I did that week, I can just go in and get pretty immediate relief and be right back at it again the next week. I’ve had my shoulders done, my back done, all sorts of different things. I think if I can catch things ahead of time and get them worked on, they won’t get as bad as my feet did.”

Acupuncturist Garrett Krause says, “Joe was one of my first patients to try shockwave exclusively for his foot tendonitis.  We had such an amazing response - quicker than we both expected!  In addition, we have treated several issues with a combo of acupuncture/dry needling/cupping/shockwave therapy.  Each patient presents with their own special set of issues, and having multiple tools to address them is what makes this medicine so much fun!”

Having seen the results for himself, Joe now looks for opportunities to introduce other veterans to Queen City Acupuncture and Wellness. “I tell anybody that’s having chronic pain, just go ask them for acupuncture and get a referral to Garrett. I tell them that it doesn’t hurt and they should give it a shot. They’ve got nothing to lose, so why not try it?”