What is Shock Wave Therapy?
Shockwave therapy is a non-invasive treatment that stimulates the body’s natural healing process. It can relieve pain and promote healing of injured tendons, ligaments, and other soft tissues. It accomplishes this by releasing growth factors in the injured tissue. Shockwave therapy is sometimes referred to as EPAT, or extracorporeal pulse activation technology.
What injuries can be treated with shockwave therapy?
Shockwave therapy is used to reduce pain and promote healing from tendinopathy and many other sports injuries. Some examples include:
- Foot pain: plantar fasciitis and Achilles’ tendinopath
- Knee pain: patella tendinopathy (jumper’s knee)
- Leg pain: hamstring injuries
- Hip pain: rectus femoris and lateral hip pain with gluteal tendinopathies
- Elbow pain: Little League elbow and tennis elbow
- Shoulder pain: rotator cuff injuries
How does shockwave therapy work?
During treatment, the clinician holds a shockwave device next to the skin. The device sends shockwaves into the injured tissues, stimulating increased blood flow and growth hormones to the area, promoting new tissue growth.
Is shockwave therapy painful?
Most patients report some discomfort during shockwave therapy, but most do not find it painful. The amount of discomfort depends in part on the person, their injury, and whether the damaged tissues are close to a bone. (Treatments delivered closer to a bone are generally more uncomfortable.) The clinician will rub a topical gel on the skin to reduce the discomfort. As soon as the treatment is over, the discomfort typically stops.
Joslyn Chiro Shockwave Consent Form