About Shockwave Therapy
What is Shockwave Therapy ESWT?
Shockwave therapy machines pass short, intense energy sound waves, travelling faster than the speed of sound, into affected tissues. This causes microtrauma, increases blood flow and stimulates an acute inflammatory response which aids the healing process.
Shockwave therapy is widely used in physiotherapy, podiatry, sports medicine, urology and orthopaedics to provide fast pain relief and increased mobility. ESWT (Extracorporeal Shockwave Therapy) is increasingly used as a treatment for health problems such as erectile dysfunction, slow-healing wounds, cellulite and neurological conditions.
Shockwave therapy has both NICE guidance and FDA approval for a large number of indications. The treatment is largely risk and side-effect-free, making it a safe treatment choice for musculoskeletal conditions and chronic pain. Shockwave therapy is a highly trusted treatment modality, and is used by hundreds of private clinics and NHS hospitals across the UK.
The History of Shockwave Therapy
Shockwave therapy was first created back in the 1970’s and was exclusively used as an effective treatment technique for kidney stones. Using this method hugely reduced the need for a painful, invasive surgery.
Later in the 1980s, practitioners using shockwaves to break up kidney stones noticed a secondary result. Bones close to the treatment site were seeing an increase in mineral density. Because of this, researchers began to look into its applications in orthopaedics, which led to its first use in bone fracture healing. Over the coming decades came many more discoveries of its effects and the full potential for therapeutic use that it holds today.
Benefits of Shockwave Therapy:
Many injuries and disorders have been effectively treated with the use of shockwave therapy, including, but not limited to:
Shockwave therapy machines pass short, intense energy sound waves, travelling faster than the speed of sound, into affected tissues. This causes microtrauma, increases blood flow and stimulates an acute inflammatory response which aids the healing process.
Shockwave therapy is widely used in physiotherapy, podiatry, sports medicine, urology and orthopaedics to provide fast pain relief and increased mobility. ESWT (Extracorporeal Shockwave Therapy) is increasingly used as a treatment for health problems such as erectile dysfunction, slow-healing wounds, cellulite and neurological conditions.
Shockwave therapy has both NICE guidance and FDA approval for a large number of indications. The treatment is largely risk and side-effect-free, making it a safe treatment choice for musculoskeletal conditions and chronic pain. Shockwave therapy is a highly trusted treatment modality, and is used by hundreds of private clinics and NHS hospitals across the UK.
The History of Shockwave Therapy
Shockwave therapy was first created back in the 1970’s and was exclusively used as an effective treatment technique for kidney stones. Using this method hugely reduced the need for a painful, invasive surgery.
Later in the 1980s, practitioners using shockwaves to break up kidney stones noticed a secondary result. Bones close to the treatment site were seeing an increase in mineral density. Because of this, researchers began to look into its applications in orthopaedics, which led to its first use in bone fracture healing. Over the coming decades came many more discoveries of its effects and the full potential for therapeutic use that it holds today.
Benefits of Shockwave Therapy:
- Fast recovery
- Fewer potential complications
- No anaesthesia
- Non invasive
- No medication
- Fast treatment: 20 minutes per session
- Significant clinical benefit: often seen 6 to 8 weeks after treatment
Many injuries and disorders have been effectively treated with the use of shockwave therapy, including, but not limited to:
- Jumper’s knee
- Painful shoulder
- Tennis elbow
- Golfers elbow
- Heel spur
- Plantar fasciitis
- Insertional pain
- Chronic tendinopathy/chronic pain
- Medial tibial stress syndrome
- Calcifications
- Hip pain
- Achilles tendinitis
- Myofascial Pain Syndromes
- Musculoskeletal conditions
- Calcific tendonitis
- Hamstring tendinopathy
- Non healing wounds
- Non-unions
- Coccydynia
- Erectile Dysfunction
- Peyronie’s disease
- Chronic Pelvic Pain Syndrome
