Fallen arches? Shock therapy may be just what you need

For thousands of years, the excruciating pain of fallen arches and heel spurs have plagued up to 20 percent of humankind. In the past, little could be done, so that fallen arches spelt the end of careers in the military, police or other professions dependent on people being fleet of foot.

In recent years, surgical procedures have had some limited success in treating the condition. But in many cases, the surgery is unsuccessful and in fact worsens the condition.

Now the German scientists at the Mare Clinic in Kiel say they have devised a safe and effective way of eliminating the pain and curing heel spurs, the common and painful heel condition called plantar fasciitis in medical jargon.

Their “radial extracorporeal shock wave therapy” requires absolutely no anesthesia and no post-procedure rehabilitation time.

“Radial extracorporeal shock wave therapy significantly improves pain, function and quality of life compared with placebo in patients with recalcitrant plantar fasciitis,” writes Dr Ludger Gerdesmeyer in an article published in the American Journal of Sports Medicine.

“Three interventions of radial extracorporeal shock wave therapy ... were studied in 245 patients with chronic plantar fasciitis,” he writes.

Three-month follow-ups showed dramatic decrease in heel pain at first steps in the morning, during daily activities and during standardized pressure force. There was no recurrence of heel-spur symptoms after 12 months.

The overall success rate was 61 percent, which the Kiel scientists called remarkable. But they cautioned that more study is needed.

“Radial extracorporeal shock wave therapy is an effective treatment for chronic plantar fasciitis that can be administered to outpatients without anesthesia but has not yet been evaluated in controlled trials,” Dr. Gerdesmeyer writes.

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