A one-time treatment can help cure heel and foot pain known as plantar fasciitis, according to a new study.

Dr. Luca Sconfienza of Italy's University of Genoa said the technique combines ultrasound with steroid injections. It works 95 percent of the time, according to a news release.

Plantar fasciitis, the most common cause of heel pain, is an inflammation of the connective tissue called the plantar fascia that runs along the bottom of the foot. It affects 1 million people a year in the U.S.

Usually, it is treated with rest, stretching and splints.

The release said that if those treatments don't work, people often try shockwave therapy, which is painful and takes multiple treatments. Sometimes, surgery is used.

But Sconfienza's team tried using ultrasound and steroids on 44 patients who had not responded to conservative treatments.

Under local anesthesia, doctors used ultrasound to guide a needle to the area of pain, then punctured it several times, followed by a steroid injection.

After the 15-minute procedure, symptoms disappeared for 42 of the study's 44 patients within three weeks.

"This therapy is quicker, easier, less painful and less expensive than shockwave therapy," Sconfienza said. "In cases of mild plantar fasciitis, patients should first try noninvasive solutions before any other treatments. But when pain becomes annoying and affects the activities of daily living, dry-needling with steroid injection is a viable option."

The study was presented at the annual meeting of the Radiological Society of North America.