Shockwave therapy is a modality used for the treatment of a variety of musculoskeletal conditions, primarily applied to chronic conditions. ESWT is beneficial for patients with painful soft tissue (muscle, tendons and ligaments), joint and bone conditions. The therapy can help those with sports or overuse injuries and can benefit those undergoing physiotherapy for a range of complaints.
Most commonly, shockwave therapy is used to help treat the following conditions:
- 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 sound waves stimulate blood flow to the area, and also causes a small amount of localized inflammation. In the days after treatment, the body will work to naturally heal this inflammation, and in doing so, stimulates the repair and regeneration of cells. Injured tissues then begin to repair and cause the associated pain to reduce.
If you have scar tissue in the area, that’s contributing to your pain, shockwave therapy will also help to break down this thick, fibrous tissue. Scar tissue causes immobility in the surrounding tissues as unlike normal tissues, it isn’t very elastic. Breaking it down using sound waves helps to improve mobility and discomfort.