A sixty-year-old man came to our clinic recently complaining of persistent, nagging lateral calf pain in his left leg. This acupuncture calf pain case describes how we identified his problem and resolved his pain, all within four treatments.
Sciatica Induced Calf Pain
It all started three months earlier when our patient had a severe episode of sciatica. He developed muscle spasms in his left hip, which compressed his sciatic nerve, sending pain down his leg, calf, and foot. Luckily, he was in California for a business trip and sought the help of an acupuncturist, who could release the muscles spasms in his hip.
Although his hip pain was gone, nerve pain persisted in his calf, foot, and toes. He thought this pain would ease, as his hip was all better. But after three months, the pain was still there. So he went online and found our acupuncture clinic.
Acupuncture Best For Nerve Pain
This acupuncture calf pain case is an excellent example of how acupuncture resolves nerve pain. Early, effective treatment resolved the root cause of our patient’s injury, but peripheral damage remained. The pain in his calf caused persistent nerve pain on the lateral (outside) edge of his calf muscle, causing it to be tight and inflexible. In addition, the toes on his left foot were numb, showing just how much damage the hip muscle spasms caused to the sciatic nerve three months earlier.
How The Body Heals
There was no need to treat our patient’s left hip – the muscles were functioning normally again – the treatment needed to restore nerve function in his calf and toes. Luckily, acupuncture is well suited for this job as it calms agitated nerves for all types of nerve pain conditions. For example, acupuncture is the best treatment for postherpetic neuralgia, a debilitating nerve condition that strikes patients with shingles. Acupuncture is also a powerful treatment for peripheral neuropathy, which is pain and numbness of the feet.
Acupuncture Calf Pain Case
Each nerve pain treatment is unique, as the nerves function differently throughout the body. Our patient’s nerve pain treatment for his calf and toes involved selecting points along his Gall Bladder channel, which runs down the lateral aspect of the leg. We selected acupoints GB34, GB38, GB39, GB40 and GB41, and then ran gentle electroacupuncture from point to point. We also needled supporting points on the Bladder Channel, including BL58 and BL60. This treatment served to communicate with his overactive nerves, calming them.
Calf Pain Resolved With Acupuncture
The result of his first treatment was to reduce his calf pain by 40%. He was now able to walk with a more normal stride and make it around the block in his neighborhood for the first time in months. After three treatments, his calf pain eased by 80%, with a 60% reduction in toe numbness. It took just one more treatment to have his calf feeling completely normal. Acupuncture had healed the nerves in his lower leg and foot.
Other Sciatic Nerve Pain Locations
We see many patients in our clinic for sciatica, also known as piriformis syndrome. After resolving the source of the pain, which is most often spasming muscles in the hip, we go after the nerve pain, which can be found anywhere from the hip to the leg. Some patients have upper leg pain. Like our patient in this acupuncture calf pain case, others have nerve-related pain in the calf, foot, and toes. Sometimes, the back of the leg and calf are affected, while others feel the side or front of the leg. The sciatic nerve has three pathways down the leg: back, side and front. So you might feel nerve pain in any of these areas, depending on the path affected.
Be Careful Not To Overstretch
Over the years, treating many hundreds of sciatica patients, we’ve observed that it’s best not to stretch when the hip muscles are still in spasm. This is because stretching muscles like the piriformis and Gluteal muscles tend to make them spasm more when injured. Instead, seek acupuncture treatment first to resolve the muscle spasms. Only then is it safe to start gentle stretching.
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