Shockwave Therapy

Pressure wave therapy is a proven effective treatment for a variety of disorders and chronic pain. The pressure waves cause microtrauma in the treated area, which recreates neo-vascularization (new blood circulation) in the region. Feel free to contact us Facebook page our or the comments section at the end of the article if you have any comments, comments or questions regarding this form of treatment.

It is the new blood circulation that promotes healing in the tissue. Pressure wave therapy thus stimulates the body's own ability to heal muscle and tendon disorders by breaking down the damaged tissue which is then replaced by healthy and new muscle or tendon tissue.

Pressure wave therapy was developed in Switzerland and proved to be an effective alternative for patients with chronic disorders, avoiding the use of surgery, cortisone injections or the use of medication. The treatment is therefore without side effects, except that the healing process itself can be quite sore and painful.

How is pressure wave treatment carried out?

First and foremost, the clinician will diagnose the problem, map out where the pain is and record this. Then clinical protocols are used for individual problems (for example, then treated plantar fascia with 2000 beats with a 15mm probe).

We think it is very illustrative to show you a thorough video using pressure wave therapy against the diagnosis of plantar fascitis. This diagnosis is often compounded by several factors, but the fact is that the tendon plate on the underside of the foot blade and at the front of the heel bone is overloaded and that dysfunctional damage occurs. This damage tissue has higher pain sensitivity (emits more pain signals), is less functional in relation to shock absorption and weight transfer, and that injured tissue also has reduced blood circulation and healing ability. Pressure wave treatment thus breaks down this damage tissue (which should not be there) and starts a repair process which gradually, over several treatments, replaces it with new and healthy muscle or tendon tissue.

Video - Pressure wave treatment against Plantar fasciitis (click on the image to see the video)

Source: Found.net's YouTube channel. Remember to subscribe (for free) for more informative and good videos. We also welcome suggestions for what our next video will be about.

Also read: - How To Get Rid Of Plantar Fascitis

We can highly recommend the article above - written by a chiropractor at the interdisciplinary clinic Råholt Chiropractor Center (Eidsvoll municipality, Akershus).

The treatment is performed over 4-12 treatments, depending on the duration and intensity of the problem, with about 1 week in between. At later treatment, it may be normal to have longer between treatments due to recovery processes. A treatment can consist of as many as 2-3000 physical shocks / pressure waves - ie not current or sound waves.

It is important that the pressure wave treatment is not performed much more often than once a week and that it is allowed to go about 1 week between each treatment - this is to allow the healing response to take time to work with the dysfunctional tissue.

Like other forms of treatment, treatment tenderness can occur, and this is usually due to the fact that it causes tissue changes.

- In some cases it can take up to 6-8 weeks before you notice complete healing after pressure wave treatment, but many notice a good, pain-relieving effect already after 2-3 treatments. One must also address the very cause of the injury to avoid relapse or aggravation.

Pressure wave against chronic disorders

A chronic disorder is an injury that the body's natural healing mechanisms have stopped treating itself. In other words, one can say that the body has "given up".

The high-frequency pressure waves penetrate down and into the damaged tissue and cause microtrauma - the body responds to this by increasing blood circulation and metabolism around what it interprets as the injury area. This in turn stimulates the body's own ability to repair itself. It is common to experience immediate pain relief and thus improved movement already after 1-3 treatments.

What Can Be Treated With Pressure Wave Treatment?

Pressure wave therapy can treat, among other things:

- Achilles Tendon Problems

- Stress injuries under the foot / plantar fascite (tendon injury in plantar fascia) & heel spurs (lime at the leading edge of the heel bone of the tendon attachment)

- Frozen hip (adhesive capsulite in the hip)

- Frozen shoulder (adhesive capsulite in the shoulder)

- Golf elbow (medial epicondylitis)

- Jumpers knee - pain under the patella

- lime Shoulder (calcification in one or more tendons in the shoulder)

- mouse arm

- Runners knee (running knee) - pain over the patella in the quadriceps attachment

- Tendon injuries and tendonitis

- Shoulder pain with tendinosis (tendon injury) and tendinitis (tendonitis)

- Tennis elbow / lateral epicondylite

- Pain in the hip

Pressure wave treatment has thus documented effects on tendon injuries and tendon problems throughout the body (for example, plantar fascitis under the foot leaf). The form of treatment also has good evidence when it comes to the treatment and decomposition of tendon calcification (for example, lime shoulder and whole spore).

Study (research): Pressure wave treatment is effective in treating frozen shoulder / cold shoulder / adhesive capsulite

Hit with frozen shoulder? Then research shows that you should try pressure wave therapy to shorten the healing process of this long-lasting torment that can last as long as 1-2 years without treatment. A study published in the acclaimed journal International Journal of Preventative Medicine showed that 4 treatments over 4 weeks resulted in clinical improvement in shoulder movement and that the person was back to his daily chores faster. We recommend that it be done in combination with exercises against frozen shoulder and under the auspices of a publicly authorized clinician (physiotherapist, physician, chiropractor or manual therapist).

Study (research): Pressure wave therapy is clinically documented in the treatment of chronic plantar fasciitis

As a major survey / meta-analysis (the strongest form of research), I firmly concluded:

"Pressure wave therapy is an effective and safe treatment for chronic plantar fasciitis." (Aqil et al, 2013)

 

But as they wrote - in severe cases it can take up to 12 weeks (and 12 treatments) before you notice a significant difference. Due to lack of information from clinics, there are therefore many with chronic and more serious strain injuries in the tendon tissue under the foot who give up after only 4 - 5 treatments. When the truth was that they most likely, due to the fact that their diagnosis was more serious than usual, had needed significantly more treatments over a longer period of time.

When you know how pressure wave treatment works, which was also emphasized in the research study, you realize that it is physically impossible for the pressure waves not to have an effect on the damaged tendon tissue. They break down, proven, damaged and dysfunctional tendon tissue and trigger a significant healing response in the area. The only problem is that the process must be repeated over several treatments - and then in many cases over the standardized 5-8 treatments many try before they give up.

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Source: 

Aqil et al. Extracorporeal Shock Wave Therapy Is Effective In Treating Chronic Plantar Fasciitis: A Meta-analysis of RCTs. Clin Orthop Relat Res. 2013 Nov; 471 (11): 3645–3652. Published online 2013 Jun 28.

Vahdatpour et al, 2014. Efficacy of Extracorporeal Shockwave Therapy in Frozen Shoulder. Int J Prev Med. 2014 Jul; 5 (7): 875–881.

Relevant FAQs:

Feel free to use the comment box below or send us a private message via social media) if you have any questions.

Is Pressure Wave Treatment Dangerous?

No, absolutely not - but as with other conservative treatments, pressure wave therapy can cause local tenderness and temporary pain due to the fact that it physically breaks down damaged tissue and initiates a repair process in the area. Such tenderness is completely normal to experience for up to 24-72 hours after physical treatment.

Have had tendonitis in the shoulder. Can this be treated with pressure wave treatment?

As mentioned in the previous article, there is an overdiagnosis in relation to the fact that tendon injuries are often, incorrectly, called tendonitis. Research has shown that it is extremely much rarer to suffer a tendon injury than a tendonitis. But the answer is that, yes, pressure wave therapy can also be used against diagnoses that end up -ittâ (for example, supraspinatus tendinitis, tendonitis of the shoulder, or plantar fasciitis).

Who performs pressure wave treatment?

The treatment should be performed by publicly authorized professional groups (physiotherapist, chiropractor or manual therapist) with special expertise in the assessment and treatment of ailments in muscles, joints, tendons and nerves. Public health authorization entails a protected title and is a seal of quality from the Norwegian health authorities and ensures your rights and safety as a patient - that is why we primarily recommend assessment and treatment of occupational groups with a protected title (in other words, it is illegal to call a physiotherapist or chiropractor if one is not - unlike other occupational groups that are not protected and that anyone can call themselves). We give hundreds of recommendations on treatment sites via private message on social media during the year - so you are free to contact us if you are looking for a local, skilled and authorized therapist.