Shockwave Therapy
Therapeutic shock waves were introduced as a medical treatment for eliminating kidney stones without causing skin injury over 20 years ago.
Today the use of radial shock waves or Radial Pressure Waves (RPW) has been successfully extended to other therapeutic and wellness applications. Although especially popular in Europe it is still a relatively new technology for musculoskeletal intervention in the UK.
The effectiveness of the treatment modality for specific conditions has however been reviewed accepted by both NICE (UK National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence) and FDA (US Food and Drug Administration).
How Can Shockwave Help?
- Pain reduction: the intensive pulses transmitted from the hand piece to the tissue help inhibit the transmission of the pain signal (Gate Control theory)
- Increased metabolism: shock waves influence the tissue on a cellular level, promoting the release of pain inhibiting and inflammatory inhibiting substances
- Revascularisation: repeated shock waves influence the blood flow, promoting tissue healing and regeneration
- Reduced muscle tone: shock waves help restore a normalized muscular tone by reducing the impact of pain on muscle tone
What Conditions can Shockwave help with?
- Achilles tendinopathy (pain in the tendon that connects the back of the foot to the calf muscle)
- Plantar fasciitis (pain in the underside of the foot)
- Tennis elbow (pain on the outer side of the elbow)
- Golfers elbow (pain on the inner side of the elbow)
- Patellofemoral syndrome (runner’s knee)
- Iliotibial band Syndrome, or ITBS (pain that stretches from the outside of the hip down the outer thigh to the outside of the knee caused by running and cycling)
- Medial tibial stress syndrome (shin splints)
- Bony heel spurs
The above is not an exhaustive list. Ongoing research is now showing that Shockwave can help with many other conditions. Please contact us for more details or to arrange one or a group of sessions.
