Shockwave Therapy

How does Shockwave Therapy work?

Shockwave is a new piece of; effective, non-invasive and cutting edge technology that can treat a number of painful problems and injuries. The name might sound a little intense, but don't worry, there's nothing to be afraid of.

It's a form of treatment that uses high energy acoustic waves on your injured tissues. It emits the waveforms through the use of a handpiece, which facilitates a local reaction to engage your bodies healing and repair response. This results in an optimal cellular healing environment, which:

• Reduces pain
• Resets the inflammation cycle, which kickstarts chronic non healing tissues into reparative stage
• Stimulates collagen production to help muscles, tendons and soft tissue repair
• Promotes new blood vessel formation
• Breaks down calcium build-ups, in chronically injured tissues
• Releases trigger points

What can Shockwave Therapy treat?

Typically, the best results for Shockwave are found when treating tendon and muscle issues, particularly those that have been hanging around for a long period of time. 

However, we will first need to diagnose your condition and work out if Shockwave is an indicated treatment pathway for you.

Generally Shockwave can be beneficial for any of the following conditions:

• Plantar fasciitis
• Shin splints
• Achilles tendinopathy
• Other tendinopathies 
• Iliotibial band syndrome
• Some chronic long standing bursitis 
• Trigger point therapy 

To ensure you achieve a complete recovery and can return to activity, we tend to approach problems in a wholistic nature. Hence, we often use this treatment in conjunction with our range of other treatment options such as orthotic therapy, exercise prescription, mobilisation techniques, dry needling, gait re-training and the list goes on. 

What should I expect in a Shockwave treatment session?

We require an initial appointment to assess your problem, and determine if Shockwave is going to be an effective treatment pathway for you. If so, it can be administered at the initial consult.

In each of your Shockwave treatments, your podiatrist will follow a similar routine as outlined in the steps below, after your current progress is discussed and other modalities e.g. dry needling and exercise rehab prescription have be performed.  

The Shockwave administration is as follows: 

Step 1
The podiatrist will locate the treatment area through palpation (a physical examination using the hands) to ensure the therapy is delivered precisely.

Step 2
A sufficient amount of gel is applied to the area, which is necessary to transfer the acoustic waves efficiently and smoothly.

Step 3
They will then place the head of the handpiece on the treatment area and push down slightly. The start button will be pressed and the treatment will begin.

It's quite a unique device, so it may feel odd and uncomfortable to start, but as the treatment continues, your discomfort should reduce. Each treatment will last for approximately 10-20 minutes. 

Does Shockwave Therapy hurt?

As we've said, there's really nothing to worry about with this treatment. It may cause some localised discomfort at the time, which could be comparable to the pain felt when pushing on a bruise. The treatment may be followed by mild tenderness, but this should settle within 24 hours, with Shockwave often providing pain relief within 0-12 hours following treatment. 

The aim of each Shockwave session is to increase the dosage of acoustic energy waves to continue to promote the healing process. Thus discomfort levels tend to remain fairly constant throughout your treatments as your body continues to adjust and heal so it can absorb higher energy waves. 

How many treatments do I need to improve my condition?

It depends on the severity of your condition and pain, however we normally recommend 3-4 weekly treatments, due to the soft tissue regeneration and recovery cycle being 4 weeks. 

These treatments are usually performed one week apart. Many patients notice an immediate difference once the session is complete, or within a few hours or days. Because the healing process starts immediately after your first treatment, we usually expect to see your pain and symptoms continually decrease each week. 

Are there any side effects?

It is uncommon to experience side effects however it is possible that you may feel discomfort around the area of injury, and some bruising, although both of these are very rare. 

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