Shockwave Therapy
Radial Extracorporeal Shockwave Therapy
Shockwave therapy is an evidence-based treatment that involves passing low energy pressure waves into damaged tissues to increase blood flow and stimulate repair whilst reducing pain and allowing your body to restart it own natural healing process.
What can shockwave help me?
- Plantar fasciitis – treatment of foot pain
- Achilles tendinopathy – treatment of ankle pain
- Patellar tendinopathy – treatment for knee pain
- Gluteal tendinopathy – treatment for hip pain
- Shoulder tendinopathy – treatment for shoulder pain
- Hamstring tendinopathy – treatment of leg pain
- Tennis or golfer’s elbow – treatment for elbow pain
Is shockwave therapy safe?
Shockwave therapy is very safe, it has NICE guidance for many indications and is used within the NHS. Shockwave therapy performed by qualified therapists is largely risk-free.
What are radial shockwaves ?
Shockwave therapy has been used since the 1980’s for the non-surgical treatment of kidney stones, fast forward 40 years and its now used to treat many areas of the body. Radial shockwaves are low energy pressure waves that are delivered into damaged tissues such as tendons and muscle, this increases blood flow, has an analgesic effect and stimulates the body’s natural repair and regeneration process.
Is shockwave therapy painful?
You may experience some discomfort during treatment but the pain should be tolerable. Energy levels can be adjusted accordingly. Due to the analgesic effect of shockwave therapy many patients report immediate relief following treatment.
Get a Shockwave Therapy treatment at Move Clinic !
How successful is the treatment?
After only 2 or 3 sessions, many patients report complete pain relief or significant pain reduction. The therapy eliminates pain or restores mobility, thus improving quality of life. In chronic conditions, an over success rate ranges from 60-80% when other therapeutic treatments have been unsuccessful
How many sessions are needed?
The amount of treatment sessions will vary dependant on the type of conditions being treated. As a rule, 3-6 treatment sessions are advised. Sessions last approximately 30 minutes.
Shockwave Therapy at Move Clinic
We view shockwave as part of a package of care. We value patient education, rehabilitation exercises and manual therapy as part of this. Typically, shockwave treatment at Move Clinic will be 3 treatments but we will guide you as what best fits your needs.
When is shockwave therapy not appropriate ?
The initial assessment will identify whether your injury/condition is appropriate for shockwave therapy treatment. Despite its effectiveness for the treatment of many musculoskeletal conditions we do not advise it is used:
- if there is a circulation of nerve disorder
- if there are signs of infection
- if there are any open wounds
- during pregnancy
- if blood-thinning medications are being used
- for children
If you want to learn more about shockwave therapy please check out the patient flyer.