SHOCKWAVE Therapy by Adrienne Bogard
Shockwave therapy is a non-invasive, safe, and low-cost treatment which can help improve your pain, functionality, and quality of life. This treatment is utilized as an adjunct to other physiotherapy treatment modalities, such as manual therapy and graded exercise programs, or as an alternative if you haven’t responded to other treatments.
Shockwave uses stimulations to deliver energy into tissue which creates controlled trauma to the tissue. This activates fibers that regulate pain stimuli transmission, increasing pain tolerance and causing a localized reaction that increases blood flow, promoting the body's natural healing mechanism.
Compressed air accelerates from the projectile, which hits the transmitter. This is in contact with your skin at the point of being treated. Waves are generated, which spread as ultrasonic pulses to your body tissue. This is the shockwave component with a therapeutic effect, rebooting healing.
Indication for the use of shockwave therapy includes:
Tendinopathies
Bone pathologies
Skin pathologies
Musculoskeletal pathologies
Neurological pathologies
Urologic pathologies
Commonly known tendinopathies and bone pathologies that are indicated for shockwave treatment include:
Tennis elbow
Patellar tendinopathy
Achilles tendinopathy
Plantar fasciitis
Rotator cuff tendinopathy
Golfer’s elbow
Delayed bone healing
Bone non-union
Stress fracture
Evidence suggests 3-6 sessions are necessary for pain relief and improved function. It is recommended that treatments are spaced every 5-10 days. Pain relief is regularly reported after the first session, and after 3 sessions you can expect up to 85% of symptoms to be resolved. Improvement will be seen from 2 weeks to 3 months post treatment.
Some of the benefits of shockwave therapy are:
Non-invasive and safe treatment
Cost effective
Alternative treatment method to medication or if other modalities have been ineffective
Short treatment times
If you have a pesky injury that other treatments haven’t helped with or are interested in the benefits of shockwave therapy, come in and see the team at Limitless to help.