How Many Dry Needling Sessions for Plantar Fasciitis? The answer depends on these factors
Dry needling is a treatment approach that can help reduce pain and improve movement in people dealing with plantar fasciitis. The number of sessions needed depends on factors such as the accuracy of the diagnosis, symptom duration, and the underlying cause of the heel pain.
This blog explains how dry needling works, why some cases improve more quickly than others, and what influences recovery timelines. It also highlights the importance of addressing contributing factors throughout the body rather than focusing only on the foot.
As part of a comprehensive physical therapy approach, dry needling can support healing and help you return to the activities you enjoy with greater confidence and comfort.
Dry needling can be a very effective treatment when dealing with plantar fasciitis. If you’ve had, or currently have plantar fasciitis, you know that it can be a long and frustrating road.
Wanting to know how many sessions are needed to treat a condition is a super common question we get here at Empower Physio and Wellness. And for good reason! Our brains love clear expectations.
When dealing with the human body, any response to that question will be an estimate based on your history and our clinical experience. That estimate is often very helpful for people.
There are many things that play a role in how many dry needling sessions for plantar fasciitis are needed, and we are going to break them all down for you today.
Here’s what we are going to talk about in this blog post:
What is dry needling?
What actually is plantar fasciitis?
How does dry needling help plantar fasciitis?
Factors that affect how many dry needling sessions for plantar fasciitis
What to expect after a dry needling session
What makes dry needling the most effective for treating plantar fasciitis
What NOT to do for plantar fasciitis
What is dry needling?
Dry needling is a very effective treatment that reduces pain and improves how your body moves and feels. It is gaining popularity for a reason. It's one of the most efficient ways to get at deep, chronic tension that's been hanging around for a long time.
A super-thin needle is inserted directly into a muscle to help it let go and relax. It can also wake up a muscle that's been hard to activate on your own, boost blood flow, reduce swelling, and calm down irritated nerves. Think of it as the deepest, most effective deep-tissue massage you've ever experienced.
It also affects the nervous system in a positive way. It almost resets the way the brain communicates with that body part to make that communication more productive. Think of it like a control + alt + delete for your brain and body.
What actually is plantar fasciitis?
Plantar fasciitis refers to inflammation of the plantar fascia. The plantar fascia is a thick band of fibrous tissue, called fascia, that runs along the bottom of the foot from the heels to the toes. Think of it like a leather belt on the bottom of your foot.
The plantar fascia is a passive structure- meaning it doesn’t contract or relax. It is there to provide passive stability to the bottom of the foot, helping with support and lifting of the arch as you walk or run.
This means that if the plantar fascia is irritated or inflamed, it isn’t its fault! Other parts of the body are either tight, too mobile, weak, or not supporting you well and that extra force is manifested in the plantar fascia, causing irritation.
Because of this, the plantar fascia cannot be treated in isolation. The root cause of the irritation must be identified to get lasting relief.
How does dry needling help plantar fasciitis?
There are several ways in which dry needling can help plantar fasciitis.
First off, dry needling is a great way to increase blood flow to a body part, and blood flow equals healing. Increased blood flow can also flush away inflammatory chemicals causing irritation around the plantar fascia.
Remember the nervous system piece too. Dry needling affects the nervous system and can reduce pain through better nervous system communication with the foot, as well as releasing our body’s naturally occurring opioids.
Treating the calf muscles with dry needling is also very effective. Many people are told to stretch their calves when diagnosed with plantar fasciitis, and while that can sometimes be helpful, stretching isn’t going to resolve the deep tension held in the calf muscles.
Think of it like this- if you have a knot in a rope or necklace, do you get the knot out by pulling really hard on both ends? Or do you knead out the knot with your fingers?
You knead it out with your fingers right?
That is the same way in which dry needling helps release deep tension in the calf muscles.
Now this calf tension can be contributing to irritation in the plantar fascia indirectly, or can be a root cause of your heel pain by itself.
I’ve seen countless times that someone comes in with “plantar fasciitis”, has all the classic symptoms, but we needle their calves and their pain is improved by at least 50% after one treatment.
In my clinical experience, classic plantar fasciitis is stubborn and improves slowly over time with the right treatment. It doesn’t magically improve that quickly.
So what is actually happening here?
The problem wasn’t plantar fasciitis to begin with. It was a calf problem, and when the calf is irritated it refers pain to the heel and presents very similarly to plantar fasciitis. But the problem isn’t coming from the foot, it’s coming from the calf.
Zooming out to the biggest picture, remember how I said that in cases of plantar fasciitis, the problem lies elsewhere in the body? Either something is tight, too mobile, weak, or not stabilizing well.
Treating those other areas with dry needling, such as the glutes, hamstrings, quads, or low back, can be very effective at optimizing the way you move. This fixes the underlying issue of why the plantar fascia is irritated in the first place.
Factors that affect how many dry needling sessions for plantar fasciitis
The biggest factor in determining how many dry needling sessions for plantar fasciitis are needed is obtaining an accurate diagnosis and identifying the root cause of the problem.
As I just explained above, if the heel pain isn’t actually plantar fasciitis and is rather a calf tension problem, your heel pain can go away in roughly 3-5 visits.
In cases of true plantar fasciitis, it takes much longer and this can be a stubborn problem to treat, especially if it’s been going on for months or years. These cases we usually see for at least 8-10 visits, if not more. These visits are spread out over time, usually 3-6 months. (We don’t see our clients twice a week for 6 weeks…that setup doesn’t allow for lasting, meaningful change in how you feel.)
Other factors that influence the number of dry needling sessions for plantar fasciitis include:
Your overall health and fitness
Your metabolic health
Nutrition
Sleep
Stress
Your foot shape (aka whether you’re biased to a high arch or flat foot)
How much you’re on your feet during the day
Your commitment to the whole treatment program to help yourself outside of dry needling sessions
What to expect after a dry needling session
After a dry needling session, you will likely feel a bit of post-needle soreness in the muscles treated. This is very similar to post-exercise soreness (also known as delayed onset muscle soreness, or DOMS), and typically lasts for 1-2 days.
Despite this post-needle soreness, people usually experience immediate improvement in their original pain or tension.
You don’t really need to do anything differently after a dry needling session. We recommend that you be active throughout the day, strength train within 24-48 hours, and drink plenty of water.
What makes dry needling the most effective for treating plantar fasciitis
While dry needling is a wonderful and very effective treatment, it is a means to an end…not the end itself. This means that you need to pair dry needling with mobility drills, strength training, optimizing footwear, and/or optimizing lifestyle habits to make it most effective.
If you want to feel better, you will have to do something different in your daily life. Don’t expect a passive treatment to fix all your problems if you’re not willing to also help yourself. Dry needling just expedites your progress.
To learn more about this, check out our blog Dry Needling Effectiveness: How to get the most out of this technique.
What NOT to do for plantar fasciitis
I urge you with every ounce in my being to not get a cortisone injection in your plantar fascia. The cases of plantar fasciitis that I’ve seen do the worst over time are the ones who have had multiple cortisone injections. This is because cortisone is not good for tissue health and impairs healing. With repeat injections, it really takes a toll on the tissue of the plantar fascia. It also doesn’t fix the root cause of the problem, so the pain will keep coming back.
Where to find dry needling for plantar fasciitis
Are you dealing with plantar fasciitis or heel pain and want more individualized support?
If you are located in or near Westerville, Ohio we can help you with dry needling to improve your heel pain!
You can get started right away by learning more about our physical therapy services, dry needling services, or getting in contact with us.
We also offer virtual coaching throughout the world to empower you with your health and get to the root of what is holding you back. You can learn more about our virtual coaching program here.
If you have additional questions, we would love to talk with you, hear your story, answer all your questions, and see how we could help.
You can call or text us at (614) 423-9731 or schedule a free discovery call. You can also learn more about Empower Physio and Wellness + our team or check out other services we offer.