We are now offering Shockwave Therapy as a service to our patients!! While this has been in Europe and Canada for over 20 years it is really gaining traction in the U.S. for dealing with many stubborn musculoskeletal conditions. This is a real game changer in the treatment of these chronic conditions and we’re excited to offer it!
Shockwave therapy is an intervention that stimulates the body’s natural healing process by enhancing blood circulation, which accelerates the healing of chronic musculoskeletal conditions in bones, tendons, ligaments, and muscle. Additionally, it has been shown to have a direct effect on local nerve endings resulting in decreased pain.
Extracorporeal Shockwave Therapy (ESWT) is now being used in major health centers like Boston Children’s Hospital, Mayo Clinic, Cleveland Clinic, the University of Colorado Health, as well as numerous physiotherapy centers in the country. ESWT is a non-invasive treatment used to treat various chronic conditions including:
What is Shockwave?
When you experience chronic pain, your body is no longer recognizing that there is an injury to that area. As a result, it shuts down the healing process and no further relief is provided, leaving you in a constant state of pain.
Shockwave therapy penetrates deep into your soft tissue, causing a microtrauma or new inflammatory condition to the treated area. This “new injury” triggers your body’s natural healing response once again. The energy emitted into the area also causes the cells in the soft tissue to release certain bio-chemicals that intensify the body’s natural healing process. These bio-chemicals allow for the building of an array of new microscopic blood vessels in the soft tissue.
The strong energy pulses that are applied to the affected area for short periods of time stimulates cells in the body that are responsible for bone and connective tissue healing. In many instances, shockwave therapy treatments have proven to be effective in cases where the human body has not been able to heal itself on its own.
Cost
This office will be offering this service at substantially below the national average, which is $150-$400 per treatment. Until December 31, 2024 the cost for just Shockwave treatment will be $65 (a standalone 15-minute appointment), or $25 when combined with a regular chiropractic visit. The 15-minute $65 appointment will cover up to 1-2 regions. When added on to a regular visit for $25 it will cover 1 region only.
The number of treatments necessary depends on the condition, but is usually 3-10. The treatment itself only takes less than 5 minutes, which typically can be done in the same 15-minute appointment as the regular chiropractic visit. It is an extraordinarily effective treatment that is much quicker than dry needling, laser, and therapeutic ultrasound treatments but is typically as much as or more effective!
Shockwave Research
Shockwave therapy is a proven effective treatment supported by medical literature. There have been extensive studies done on Radial Shockwave Therapy over the past 20 years, including double-blind, randomized, controlled studies indicating up to 91% improvement with 84% success rate for numerous conditions.
Research Articles
- “The extracorporeal shock wave therapy is as effective as dry needling for relieving pain, improving function, and reducing shear modulus for patients with myofascial trigger points after a series of three treatments.” (Randomized Trial on Comparison of the Efficacy of Extracorporeal Shock Wave Therapy and Dry Needling in Myofascial Trigger Points, Am J Phys Med Rehabil. 2019 Aug;98(8):677-684).
- Shockwave therapy “can safely be used to treat various musculoskeletal conditions in athletes, including rotator cuff tendinopathy, lateral elbow epicondlyopathy, greater trochanteric pain syndrome, hamstring tendinopathy, patellar tendinopathy, Achilles tendinopathy, other tendinopathies, plantar fasciopathy, bone stress injuries, and medial tibial stress syndrome. ESWT can be used to treat in-season athletes, as it often requires no/minimal time away from sport and may result in rapid benefits.” (Extracorporeal Shockwave Therapy in the Management of Sports Medicine Injuries, Curr Sports Med Rep). 2021 Jun 1;20(6):298-305.)
- “The application of extracorporeal shockwave therapy (ESWT) in musculoskeletal disorders has been around for more than a decade and is primarily used in the treatment of sports related over-use tendinopathies such as proximal plantar fasciitis of the heel, lateral epicondylitis of the elbow, calcific or non-calcific tendonitis of the shoulder and patellar tendinopathy etc. The success rate ranged from 65% to 91%, and the complications were low and negligible….The vast majority of the published papers showed positive and beneficial effects. FDA (USA) first approved ESWT for the treatment of proximal plantar fasciitis in 2000 and lateral epicondylitis in 2002. ESWT is a novel non-invasive therapeutic modality without surgery or surgical risks, and the clinical application of ESWT steadily increases over the years.” (Extracorporeal shockwave therapy in musculoskeletal disorders, J Orthop Surg Res. 2012 Mar 20:7:11.)
- “Shockwave therapy significantly reduced the pain that accompanies tendinopathies and improves functionality and quality of life. It might be first choice because of its effectiveness and safety.” (Effectiveness and Safety of Shockwave Therapy in Tendinopathies Mater Sociomed v.30(2); 2018 Jun; 30(2): 131–146.)
- “ESWT has been proven as effective and safe non-invasive treatment option for tendon and other pathologies of the musculoskeletal system in a multitude of high-quality RCTs. For plantar fasciopathy, non-calcific tendinopathy of the supraspinatus tendon and calcifying tendonitis of the shoulder RCTs on ESWT are the predominant type of randomized controlled trials (RCT) … and obtained the highest [efficacy] scores among all investigated treatment modalities for these conditions. The latter criterion was also achieved for Achilles tendinopathy and lateral epicondylitis, albeit in a smaller number of RCTs. Therefore, ESWT should be considered by medical doctors, therapists, patients and payers when discussing treatment options for certain musculoskeletal pathologies.” (Efficacy and safety of extracorporeal shock wave therapy for orthopedic conditions: a systematic review on studies listed in the PEDro database. British Medical Bulletin, Volume 116, Issue 1, December 2015, Pages 115–138).