★ 5-Star Rating on Google, 296 Burlington patients. In 2025, our shockwave patients reported an average pain drop from 6.4 to 3.3 out of 10 over their care plan.
The first step out of bed
Sharp heel pain with the first steps out of bed. A dull burn in your arch by the end of a workday. You have not stopped living your life, but you have started working around it. Ibuprofen before your walk. Ice after. Skipping the run. Standing a little less at work. If your heel has hurt for months, and rest, stretches, or even an injection have not fixed it, you are exactly who this page is for.
Who we see with this in Burlington
Heel pain does not care what you do for a living or for fun, but around Burlington, NC it shows up in patterns we see every week. Pickleball players from the City Park courts who feel it after long open-play mornings. Runners and walkers who train on the Haw River Trail and notice the first mile hurts more than the last. Golfers who feel it walking the course. People in trades who spend ten hours a day on concrete. Teachers, nurses, and warehouse workers who are on their feet all shift. Parents chasing kids. Active retirees who refuse to slow down and should not have to.
The common thread is not the activity. It is the identity. These are people who stay active, and the heel is threatening that. If that sounds like you, keep reading.
What you have probably already tried
Most people who come to us have already done the sensible things.
You stretched your calves. You rolled your foot on a frozen water bottle. You bought insoles, then better insoles. You tried a night splint and stopped wearing it. You took anti-inflammatories before your shift and iced after. You rested, and it felt better, right up until you went back to normal. Some of you have had a cortisone injection, and it helped for a while, and then it did not.
None of that was wrong. In the first few weeks, those steps often work on their own. The problem is the chronic case. Past about three months the tissue is usually no longer inflamed the way it was at the start, so treatments aimed at inflammation stop moving anything.
Why it keeps coming back
The plantar fascia is the end of a chain that runs from your calf, through your Achilles, into the bottom of your foot. When the calf is tight, or an ankle is not moving through its full range, the fascia absorbs load it was not built for, every step, all day.
That is why the stretch helps and does not last. You are treating the last link in the chain. And once tissue has been stuck in a non-healing pattern for months, stretching a stalled tendon does not restart it. Something has to.
What we do differently
Focused shockwave, aimed at the tissue that stalled.
We use focused shockwave from Storz, the same technology used in sports medicine settings. Focused shockwave concentrates acoustic energy at a set depth, which is what lets us reach the fascia at the heel instead of only treating the surface. The goal is to restart a process that stopped: local blood flow, new collagen, tissue that rebuilds rather than staying stuck.
Chronic plantar fasciitis is one of the most established uses for shockwave in the research, and one of the conditions extracorporeal shockwave holds FDA clearance for.
Our own numbers. In 2025, our shockwave patients reported an average pain drop from 6.4 to 3.3 out of 10 over their care plan. That is all shockwave patients across conditions, not a selected group.
Shockwave does not work alone here.
Depending on your exam, your plan may also include:
Dry needling through the calf chain, gastroc and soleus first, then the Achilles and the plantar surface. We use a cooling spray on the bottom of the foot, because that spot is tender and there is no reason to make it worse than it needs to be.
Chiropractic care to restore motion where the ankle or knee is restricted, so the fascia stops compensating for a joint that will not move.
Loading and strength work through the calf and foot, because a tendon that is rebuilding needs to be asked to work, not protected.
Movement assessment to find out why the load landed there in the first place.
What your first visit looks like
An exam, not a sales pitch.
Heel pain has more than one cause. Plantar fasciitis is the common one and it is not the only one, so the exam comes first. We look at where the pain sits, when it is worst, how your ankle and calf move, how you walk, and what your day asks of your feet. We ask what you have already tried, because that history changes the plan.
Then we tell you plainly what we found. If shockwave, chiropractic care, and rehab make sense for you, you get a clear plan with a visit count and a price before anything starts. If your exam points somewhere else, toward imaging, a stress fracture, a nerve problem, or a referral, we say so. We work alongside local physicians and podiatrists, not around them.
What a course looks like
Most plantar fasciitis plans use a series of short shockwave visits, often once a week, commonly 4 to 6 sessions. Many patients notice a change within the first few visits. Shockwave is a cash service, which means your plan is built around your foot and your goals, not around what an insurance company will approve.
| Option | Price |
|---|---|
| Single session | $125 |
| 4 Pack | $400 |
| 6 Pack | $600 |
Common Questions
Does shockwave hurt? Most patients describe it as intense but tolerable, a strong tapping or pulsing over the sore area for a few minutes. Some notice temporary soreness afterward, similar to a hard workout.
How many sessions will I need? Most plans run 4 to 6 shockwave sessions, usually once a week, inside a broader plan. Your exam sets the number, and we re-check as we go rather than locking you into more than you need.
How soon do people notice a change? It varies. Many patients report a change within the first few visits, and research suggests benefits often continue to build for weeks after a series ends as the tissue keeps healing. Individual results vary, and no outcome is guaranteed.
Is this covered by insurance? Shockwave itself is a cash service with the transparent pricing above. Other parts of your plan, like chiropractic care or rehab, may be billable to insurance depending on your coverage. We will lay out exactly what costs what before you commit to anything.
Is shockwave safe? It is non-invasive and drug free, with a well-studied safety profile. It is not right for everyone. We screen for things like recent cortisone injections in the area, certain medications, active infection, and other exclusions at your exam, and we will tell you honestly if you should not have it.
What if it is not really plantar fasciitis? That happens, and it is why the exam comes first. Chronic Achilles tendinopathy is also an approved use for shockwave, so a mixed picture does not send you back to square one.
Is this you?
Probably a good fit if:
- Your heel has hurt more than three months
- You have already tried stretching, rest, inserts, or an injection
- You want to get back to running, a full shift, or a full day on your feet
- You would rather rebuild the tissue than manage the pain indefinitely
Probably not the right clinic if:
- You are shopping on price per visit rather than the shortest route out of this.
- You want a passive treatment with no exercise in it. Loading the tissue is part of why this works.
We screen everyone at the exam, and if you are not a fit we will say so.
Serving Burlington and the surrounding Alamance County communities, including Graham, Mebane, Elon, and Gibsonville.
