Dr. Kyley Hunt, ND
Featured Article (March-June 2023)
A 48 year old female came in presenting with foot and ankle pain from previously diagnosed plantar fasciitis in December. Her pain began three months earlier in September.While she sought chiropractic and physiotherapy care, unfortunately she experienced no significant improvements and responded by limiting her activities while re-evaluating her personal goal of walking a half marathon.
She presented with significant pain in her left foot and arch, and was guarding her left side. She had scarring along the first MTP joints of both feet from previous bunion surgeries and on her left knee from a previous ACL repair. She has been unable to go barefoot at home and has replaced her running shoes with walking and work shoes while avoiding outdoors exercise sessions. Upon examination, both her arches had dropped and she experienced pain along the inferior surface of the second digit, pain along the pads of all her toes and medial arch on the left foot, along with the Achilles and medial aspect of the talus.
She was treated with Bowen therapy following her ACL repair and wanted to consider it for her feet as no other therapy offered relief. At the initial appointment she did not indicate concerns with sleep or stress. We discussed and began treatment every 2 weeks for the first three sessions along with additional support at home including foot exercises and topical magnesium in the form of Epsom salt foot baths and topical lotions. We also doubled her supplementary Turmeric (500 mg BID), Omega 3 (2400 mg EPA/ DHA) and added in proteolytic enzymes away from food twice a day to help reduce the inflammation and any adhesions (in this case the patient was using Wobenzym PS 2 BID).
Our initial bowen therapy treatment focused on the lower body, the adductors, the ankle and the toes. During the second visit the patient noted less pain on waking and getting out of bed as well as the ability to walk longer. When asked about personal activities, the patient mentioned that during the holidays, she had visited friends and also did not experience pain. She was even comfortable enough to walk barefoot instead of wearing shoes in the house. During this visit, we included some additional support for stress including at-home meditation while repeating the lower body and ankle and toe protocols. We also included the Patellar and Gallbladder protocols to address the history of the knee damage and for any other stress-related issues.
By the third treatment, the patient reported the ability to walk longer with an 80% reduction in shooting pains experienced upon waking. There was also less crepitus on palpation of the ankle joints. We repeated the same Bowen protocols, increased the Proteolytic enzyme to 3 BID and added in Glycine 500 mg to address connective tissue and stress while planning a follow up visit in four weeks instead of two. During her most recent follow up, the patient indicated that she was able to walk indoors as well as longer. Furthermore, she was able to attend a work trip to Florida where she was able to wear high heels and be on her feet all day without pain. Currently, she has restarted walks on the treadmill and while she experiences pain the following day, her pain level is both manageable resulting in her feeling calm during the day.
She is waiting for her follow up with her foot specialist to discuss if she should have any additional work done and hopes to walk the Calgary Half Marathon. Her treatments have now graduated from six week intervals instead of four as she continues to make progress.
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BIO
Dr. Kyley Hunt is a naturopathic doctor practicing in Calgary with global experience. Her practice focuses on pain management, hormones and skin, stress balancing, optimized nutrition. She is trained in additional therapies such as acupuncture, IV & ozone therapy, neural, prolotherapy and Bowen.