Is It Safe to Use Shockwave Therapy?
Extracorporeal shockwave therapy is used across multiple therapeutic disciplines such as orthopedics, sports medicine, physiotherapy, urology, and even veterinary science. It is a technique that offers immediate relief from pain and restores mobility. Shockwave therapy is applied externally without the need for surgery, medication, or recovery.
What is Shockwave Therapy?
Shockwave therapy is a non-invasive treatment that uses a succession of acoustic wave pulses that are low energy, which are generated from a shockwave therapy machine. A peripheral device is applied to an area of the body where injury or pain is present.
Shockwave therapy is used for plantar fasciitis, leg pain, and musculoskeletal conditions that involve tendons and ligaments. It can treat a range of conditions that cause pain and affect mobility. Shockwave therapy triggers the body’s healing process and is an effective approach when other forms of treatment are ineffective.
The energy produced through shockwaves are carried to pain points where the process for regeneration and repair of the tendons, bones, and soft tissues is stimulated. It reduces pain through hyperstimulation anesthesia where the nerves that send pain signals to the brain are overstimulated to diminish their activity resulting in a decrease of pain. The release of the pain mediators is altered, and the pain receptors are depleted over time. Because it helps the regeneration and repair of tissue, it stimulates growth and improves the blood supply.
A medical practitioner will assess your condition to ensure shockwave therapy is suitable. You may also be directed to modify certain activity, correct your posture, and do exercises in conjunction with treatment. While sessions only last a few minutes, which may be slightly uncomfortable, no shockwave therapy recovery time is required.
Uses for shockwave therapy
Using shockwave therapy is an effective technique in treating the following conditions:
- Heel spurs, Plantar fasciitis, Achilles tendonitis
- Tennis elbow
- Shoulder pain
- Patellar tendonitis on the knee
- Bursitis
- Shin splints on the lower leg
- Upper leg pain
- Conditions affecting the back, spine, and cervical regions
Possible side effects of Shockwave Therapy
Whether you’re having shockwave therapy for back pain, or any other condition, it’s possible to experience mild side effects such as swelling, bruising, numbness, a tingling sensation or a bit of pain after treatment. The side effects are insignificant when compared to having surgery or taking prescribed medication as a treatment.
Where you do experience any of these side effects, you may need a few hours to rest the area that was treated. Ultimately, it provides an effective approach to recovering from any injury or enduring pain.
What are the benefits of shock wave therapy?
The extracorporeal shockwave therapy definition is described as an outpatient procedure with the purpose of relieving ligament or tendon pain without having to make an incision or employ the use of injections. It’s a simple and safe treatment option that offers several benefits if you have had ongoing chronic pain that is affecting your quality of life.
Different types of shockwave therapy include focused shockwave therapy and radial shockwave therapy that generate the same therapeutic effects and offer the same benefits. For more information visit paintherapycare.com.
Safe, Reliable and Effective
There have been in-depth clinical studies that prove shockwave therapy is highly effective as a modern-day physiotherapy technique. It can treat a range of conditions involving damaged muscle and bone tissue. It treats the root cause and not the symptoms, and it has a very high success rate after a couple of treatment sessions.
Breaks down Calcification
Any trauma or injury to tendons can result in calcified fibroblasts that cause long-lasting pain and decreased mobility. The pulses from shockwave therapy breaks up any calcification in the damaged area into tiny particles that can be easily absorbed by the body. Destroying calcification helps in reducing pain and restoring normal function.
Stimulates Collagen Production
Collagen is essential to help the body in the healing process and shockwave therapy promote the collagen production process. It helps the tissue fibers form structures within the ligaments and tendons and increase the strength of tissues.
Non-Invasive and Quick Recovery
Shockwave therapy is a great alternative to surgery, prescription medication, and avoids side effects associated with aggressive and expensive treatments. There are minimal side-effects, no risks, and recovery and pain relief is quick.
Is It Safe to Use Shock Wave Therapy?
There are instances when shockwave therapy may not be suitable. If you are suffering from a nerve or circulation disorder, an infection, bone conditions, tumors, open wounds, or you are pregnant, you will need to hold off before being a good candidate for shockwave therapy.
After the medical practitioner assesses your eligibility for treatment, you can safely undergo electro shockwave therapy for plantar fasciitis, or any other injury or pain condition. Because it uses ultrasound pulses, it helps with safely healing damaged tissues. There are no shockwave therapy dangers, only very mild after-effects that quickly resolve.
Why should it be used for treatment?
Shockwave therapy is an effective choice when injuries are not responding to the traditional first line of treatments such as standard physiotherapy exercises, rest, ice packs and hot packs, or wrist or leg braces and orthotics.
In most cases, patients need a series of treatments that typically include one session a week over 3 – 4 weeks. If the patient does not respond within 2 sessions, the medical practitioner will recommend stopping therapy.
How does shockwave therapy for plantar fasciitis work?
The plantar fascia is a part of the foot that generally does not receive a lot of blood flow, which is why shockwave therapy is very effective in treating plantar fasciitis. During shockwave therapy, a special device sends pressured waves to the area of the foot and penetrates the skin to reach the inflamed tissue. It stimulates the formation of new blood vessels and increases the blood and blood oxygen supply which results in reducing inflammation and the regenerating of healthy cells. Because it also helps with producing collagen, the connective tissues are able to heal quickly.
