What is Shock Wave Therapy?

Shock wave therapy is a modern and very effective method of treatment. The notion of the shock wave refers to mechanic pressure impulses that diffuse in the form of a wave in a given environment.
They are audible, highly energetic sound waves. They appear in the atmosphere at the time of an explosion, an earthquake or when an airplane breaks the sound barrier, for example. In the frontal part of the wave, pressure rises in a very short time and reaches a very high level.

These qualities of shock waves have been applied to eliminate kidney and gallbladder stones, and in orthopaedics in the recovery of broken bones.
It has been observed that many patients felt pain relief in the area in which the waves were applied. This has led to the application of shock waves in pain therapy, especially in the treating of locomotor tissues.
In modern pain relief therapy, the energy of the shock wave spreads out from the source – the shock wave generator – to the painful areas of the body.

Benefits for the patient:

• Improvement in life quality
• It is applicable in the treatment of many disorders
• It is non-invasive and does not require anaesthesia
• It prevents or reduces the necessity of surgery
• It brings fast healing effects

Already after 2 or 3 sessions, over 80% of patients cease to feel pain or their feeling of pain is greatly reduced.

How is it done?

The therapist localizes the area responsible for the pain or for other symptoms, and applies a gel to ensure full contact of the generator head with the skin. He then applies the shock waves keeping the generator head above the painful area.
It is usually recommended to conduct from three to five therapeutic sessions of 2000 shock wave impulses each.

How does it work? 

Shock waves speed up the healing process by stimulating the body to auto healing. This is done through the activation of the metabolism, the stimulation of blood circulation and of reflex reactions. The damaged or dysfunctional tissue gradually regenerates itself. Shock wave therapy has many effects, among which:

• Increased metabolism and blood circulation in the treated area
• Change in inflammation activity from a chronic state to a sharp one, which stimulates the body to regeneration
• Degradation of calcification and resorption of mobilised calcium residues in the tendon area
• Production of pain-reducing substances
• Release of endorphins, which diminish sesnitivity to pain
• Hyperstimulation of pain receptors, which emit impulses of higher frequencies that are repeatedly inhibited – Gate Control
• Increased endurance of joints to overstrain
• Restoration of proper funcitoning to tissues

Questionnaire for individual evaluation

Chronic pain has a significant effect on our private and profesisonal life and on our fitness and wellbeing.

• Do you experience limited possibilities of movement of the shoulder joint or the arms?
• Do you have problems with lifting things form high shelves?
• Does your back ache while you are sitting, walking or lying down?
• Do your elbows hurt when you grab or hold objects?
• Do you suffer from excessive muscle tension in the shoulder or neck area?
• Do you experience pain in the Achilles tendon, the heel or the knee when you are climbing or going down stairs?

If you have answered ‘yes’ to at least one of the above questions,  skocontact an OsteoMed Therapist  who uses shock wave therapy. He may be able to help you.

What disorders can be treated with shock waves?

The list of disorders that can be treated with shock waves is very long. Most often, these are pain syndromes:

• Headache
• Neck pain
• Cervicobrachial syndrome
• Interscapular pain
• Lumbar pain
• Pseudo-radicular sciatica 
• Pubic bone pain
• Iliotibial fascia syndrome
• Anterior tibial syndrome
• Plantar fascia syndrome
• Calcaneal spur
• Enthesopathy - Tendon’s insertion pain – e.g. of the Achilles tendon, lateral epicondyle (tennis elbow), medial epicondyle (golfer’s elbow), rotator cuff syndrome, patellofemoral syndrome
• Tendopathy - Tendon pain – e.g. achillodynia
• Pseudoarthrosis – Post-fracture lack of bone healing 
• Joint cartilage degeneration – e.g. patellar cartilage degeneration
• Inflammations and irritation of locomotor structures: periosteum, articular capsules, ligaments, bursas – e.g. Trochanteric Bursitis, Epicondylitis genu, Periarthritis
• La Peyronie’s disease – Induratio penis plastica
• Trigger points
• Locomotor organ dysfunctions

Price of ESWT treatment – 20 Euro

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http://www.shockwavetherapy.ca/about_eswt.htm