Achilles Heel Pain and Prostate Enlargement
Patient is a 70 plus year old male senior in generally good health. However he came in complaining of severe achilles tendon pain. He also has frequent urination due to prostate enlargement. Regarding the achilles, he didn't know it was the achilles and told me it was "heel pain". I palpated the area and told him it is not heel pain, but rather the pain of the achilles tendon that attaches to the heel. Achilles tendon problem usually happen to runners due to the constant stress put on the tendon. However the gentleman patient of mine was not involved in running.
Regardless of what or how it came about, the problem has been enduring for many years. Currently he takes MSM to alleviate it to some degree but it still seizes up often and causes severe pain all the time. Based on what I gather, the tendon itself is inflammed and likely torn or damaged to some extent because the area where the tendon attaches to the heel is thickened compared to the normal side. The entire area where the tendon attaches to the heel is painful and sensitive to pressing with the fingers as well.
I told him he needs at least 4 treatments. And because it is such a long standing issue and considering his age that it will be a slow recovery.
In the initial 4 visits the patient's improvements were most noticeable during walking. Before he could not walk too much because the area will become irritated. After 4 treatments he was able to walk much better. However whenever he tries to sit up after a period of sitting down the area will still become painful and he would have to limp a bit before he could begin walking normally.
I suggested to him that he is improving which means we should do another 4 treatments to see if we could go further. In the next 4 treatments I finally discovered the epicenter of the origin of the pain. When the acupuncture needle was inserted into that spot, the patient felt the pain spreading outward. After a few minutes post needle insertion the radiation gradually subsided. I knew this meant that the inflammation was released from the area due to the acupuncture needle tapping it. It is a good sign.
Due to this response the patient was able to achieve another level of improvement and decrease in pain as well as increased mobility. For his prostate issue the herbs I prescribed him in between acupuncture treatments also significantly alleviated the urgency that was not being helped with conventional prostate medications.