Shockwave Therapy is a non-surgical and non-invasive method of pain relief and mobility improvement. Also called Extracorporeal Shock Wave Therapy or ESWT, Shockwave Therapy is used around the world in physiotherapy, urology, sports medicine, podiatry, and orthopaedics. Shockwave Therapy offers several key benefits:
- Fast, effective treatment
- Minimal side effects
- Speedy recovery
Extracorporeal shockwave therapy starts to alleviate pain and restore mobility after the first session. At most you will be restricted from high-impact activity for 48 hours following each session. Your physiotherapist will give more tailored advice, but in general the recovery periods following shockwave treatment are substantially shorter than surgery.
Shockwave therapy is a good technique for a range of complaints. We divide the complaints into five categories:
- Tendon injuries (Achilles tendons, patellar tendons, supraspinatus and tennis elbow)
- Bones (shin splints and greater trochanteric pain syndrome)
- Neurological disorders (muscle treatment of spasticity, both in adults with hemiplegia and children with cerebral palsy)
- Muscles (treatment of trigger points, muscle pain and muscle hypertonia)
- Connective tissue (plantar fasciopathy, trigger finger and scar tissue)
Limited side effects:
Shockwave therapy carries a much lower risk of side-effects than surgery. Depending on your level of pain, overall health, and related podiatry issues there may – in very rare cases – be side effects to ESWT:
- Tolerable pain 2-4 hours after initial treatments
- Mild discomfort during treatment
- Mild bruising, swelling and/or numbness
- No response to treatment (extremely rare)