Shockwave therapy (ESWT) has evolved as a possible treatment option for patients with chronic tendon problems. It delivers shock waves to the body to help treat of a variety of chronic disorders including plantar fasciitis, calcific tendonitis and tennis elbow.
How it works
Shock wave therapy works by inducing microtrauma to the tissue which is affected by these problems/conditions. This microtrauma stimulates a repair process and relieves pain, which means that the body starts a healing response.
Results
There are many reports about the effectiveness of the treatment of these different conditions. Some studies show good results for treatment.
One of these studies confirms the effectiveness of ESWT in the treatment of plantar fasciitis in the 2007 review by Ronald De Vera Barredo, Dale Menna and James Farris at Tennessee State University and Arkansas State University.
Physiokinesis is equipped with Shockwave Therapy gear.
However, the use of this method is not recommended for all cases.
The main problem with ESWT is that not all patients are treated by their symptoms. Actually, in some cases where there is inflammation, the problem will get much worse, and the pain will increase.
Still, the effectiveness of the treatment is questioned. If shockwave treatment proves to be useful and does actually help, the difference might be small. Even in studies showing a good effect of ESWT, it only probably helps a fraction of patients. Therefore, a significant number of patients will still have pain after shockwave treatments.
Current recommendation is that shockwave is a treatment for patients who have failed all other conservative methods. It is important that patients try more traditional treatments at the beginning before considering trying to shockwave treatment.
