In my over 17 year career as a chiropractor seeing just about every injury and condition out there, I have looked at the research and have extensively used every modality including Ultrasound, Electric Stim (IFC, microcurrent, TENS…) and Laser Therapy, and the only one I continue to use is Shockwave Therapy.
The evidence on Shockwave Therapy has been overwhelming strong, not only in the scientific research, but what I have seen clinically with my patients.
How does Shockwave work?
To simplify shockwave, it’s essentially a wave created by an impact. Clapping your hands would be an example of a small shockwave. The Shockwave applicator has a barrel in the handle with a metal bullet inside of it that shoots back and forth at a rapid pace hitting a steel head. The impact of this creates a strong focused shockwave that is applied to your skin and sent deep down into the affected tissue.
This shockwave then creates microscopic damage to the applied tissue which in turn promotes a stronger healing response. Essentially it generates new blood supply to the area drastically speeding up the tissues ability to heal and recover.
Conditions Treated with Shockwave Therapy
- Plantar Fascitis
- Tennis and Golfer’s Elbow
- Jumpers Knee
- Shoulder Calcific Tendonitis
- Achilles Tendonopathy
- Morton’s Neuroma
- Trochanteric (Hip) Bursitis
- Shin Splints
- Stress Fractures
- And much more
Medical Studies Success Rates
- 91% Improvement for Calcific Tendonitis (Journal of AMA 2003)
- 77% Improvement for Tennis Elbow (The Journal of Orthopedics’ 2005)
- 90% Improvement for Plantar Fascitis-foot pain (Journal of Orthopedic Research 2005)
- 75% Success rate for Achilles Tendonopathy (American Journal of Sports Medicine)
- 75% Success rate for Patellar Tendonopathy (American Journal of Sports Medicine)
Not all shockwave machines are the same. I only use the Storz Medical Shockwave machine which is the world leader in Shockwave therapy with many of the successful studies based on the results of their machine.