What is Shockwave Therapy?
Shockwave therapy is a safe and effective treatment that can be used to treat a range of soft tissue injuries. It is primarily used to treat long standing injuries in tissues that are very slow to heal due to poor blood supply, such as tendons.
Injuries to these tissues can persist for a long time, but shockwave can help speed up the healing process by improving blood flow to that area and restarting your body’s natural recovery.
How does it work?
Shockwave therapy is a non-invasive treatment that uses pulses of energy targeted to the damaged tissue. The treatment increases blood flow to the affected area and stimulates cellular repair whilst also helping to reduce the pain. There is an abundance of research showing shockwave therapy’s effectiveness in treating a wide variety of injuries over a much quicker period of time than just conventional treatment alone.
What Injuries can be treated with shockwave?
Evidence has been very positive in improving the recovery of several injuries, particularly those that are notoriously very slow to heal. These include plantar fasciitis, Achilles tendonitis, tennis elbow, golfers elbow, frozen shoulder and tendonitis in the hip, knee and shoulder.
How long does the treatment take?
Each treatment is quick so you will only need 15 minute appointments. Most long-term injuries require 1 session a week for 3 consecutive weeks.
Do I need a referral?
If you are planning on using health insurance to cover your treatment you will need to contact them prior to attending to ensure that you are covered. Otherwise, you can simply refer yourself for shockwave treatment, assuming you have been advised that this is an appropriate treatment for you. It may be necessary to be assessed by a physiotherapist first to ensure that shockwave is appropriate for your condition if you have not been directly referred by a consultant or doctor.
Will I feel better immediately?
Shockwave is designed to stimulate your body’s natural healing process, so how quickly your body responds will be completely individual. In general, most people feel much better after the 3 sessions but healing will carry on for up to 4 months afterwards so it can take longer to feel the benefits.
Does it hurt?
Shockwave will often feel uncomfortable as the energy waves are designed to take your tissues back to an acute stage where optimal healing can happen. The discomfort is only there during the treatment session and the machine can be adjusted if the intensity is too much.
Do I need to be aware of anything after the session?
It is recommended that you allow the tissue to settle for 24-48 hours after each session, even though it usually feels perfectly fine to function as normal. You can still do gentle movement, but should avoid strenuous activities or exercises. You should not ice the area or take anti-inflammatories for 48 hours after the session as this will counter-act the effects of the shockwave treatment.
Once the 48 hours has passed you can carry on as normal.