Shockwave Therapy is a treatment method for a variety of soft tissue injuries. It works by passing shockwaves (intense but short energy sound waves) into the painful tissues.
Also known as lithotripsy, shockwaves were originally used in the 1970s to treat kidney stones. The acoustic shockwaves can break up the calcific stones removing the need for surgery. Clinicians soon discovered that patients being treated for kidney stones reported that other non-related medical conditions either improved or disappeared entirely. This led to the discovery that shockwaves had a healing impact on pain and chronic conditions in the musculoskeletal system. Devices were then developed to treat a range of tissue injuries in all parts of the body. Today Shockwave Therapy is widely used to treat problems related to soft tissue injuries such as tendonopathies that are challenging to treat by other means.
Shockwave machines are expensive so until recently this type of treatment has tended to be the preserve of elite athletes. Walnut Grove is currently the only clinic in the area offering this treatment. There is growing evidence to suggest that treating chronic muscle and tendon injuries in this way is resulting in an improved range of movement and a reduction in pain. A study in July 2020 showed a good increase in pain reduction and an improvement in grip strength with shockwave treatment of tennis elbow (notoriously difficult to treat and surprisingly more common in non-tennis players!). The use of Shockwave Therapy is supported by the NICE guidelines although the wait on the NHS may be a long one, particularly now post-COVID, with NHS face-to-face physiotherapy being severely restricted.
Today shockwave therapy is widely used to treat a huge range of musculoskeletal conditions, most commonly where major connective tissues attach to bone (tendonopathies previously referred to as tendonitis). These conditions are often chronic and difficult to resolve. Chronic conditions that centre around major joints like the shoulder, elbow, hip, knee and foot such as plantar fasciitis, Achilles tendonopathy, tennis elbow, greater trochanteric pain syndrome and calcific tendonitis of the shoulder can be treated with shockwave therapy.
Shockwave treatment can, and at Walnut Grove we believe should, be used with existing osteopathic and physiotherapeutic treatments to work on the causal and possible maintaining factors that traditionally make these conditions so chronic and difficult to manage.
If you think you are struggling with one of these conditions and want more information, please call and arrange for one of the practitioners who use shockwave to ring you to discuss the options.
