Shockwave therapy benefits

March 5, 2018

Extracorporeal shockwave therapy (ESWT) is a form of physiotherapy which sends sound waves to stimulate natural healing in the musculoskeletal system. It is designed to treat chronic pain without the use of painkillers or surgery.

Many people are unsure of the benefits to shockwave therapy. Therefore, we have created a list of advantages to using this great type of treatment.

#1 It is safe

This type of treatment causes no serious side effects. You may feel pain in the area where the soundwaves projected from, however this is just your body healing in a natural way. The pain doesn’t usually last beyond 24 hours after the treatment.

In one comprehensive review, it stated that shockwave therapy has the potential of replacing surgery in many orthopaedic disorders without the side effects of surgery.

#2 It is effective

There have been many independent studies stating that the success rate is around 60-90%, being more than most other treatments. It is a quick and effective route to take with a high success rate.

#3 The breaking up of Calcification

Severe injury to a tendon can generate calcified fibroblasts in the injured area (which is what causes chronic pain and the decreasing of mobility). When using shockwaves, this breaks up this calcification which therefore reduces the pain and restores function in the injured area.

What can shockwave therapy be used to treat?

Shockwave therapy can treat many conditions, however the main conditions it treats are;

• Tennis Elbow
• Golfers Elbow
• Plantar fasciitis (heel pain)
• Shoulder tendon pain
• Shin splints
• Hamstring and patella tendon pain
• Bursitis

Here at Physiotherapy Matters, we are one of the only clinic to provide this type of treatment in the North East. With specialist training, we are able to pinpoint the pain and help reduce it by using our state of the art equipment. If you would like a course of shockwave therapy treatment, then get in touch with us.