EXTRACORPOREAL SHOCKWAVE THERAPY

What is it?

ESWT is a machine used to deliver sound waves to the painful area. On average, four treatments are required, once a week. A randomised control study of 149 patients treated by ESWT reported that 69% of ESWT patients had an ‘excellent’ result – no pain! Clinical outcomes show a success rate of 70-80% in providing significant, if not full remission of symptoms in chronic conditions.

Conditions that respond well to ESWT

• Achilles tendon pain
• Plantar fasciitis (heel / foot pain)
• Hamstring tendon pain
• Tennis / golfers elbow
• Hip / trochanteric pain
• Rotator cuff calcific tendonitis
• Patellar tendonopathy
• Myofascial trigger pain

The above conditions can be resistant to conservative physiotherapy treatments and even injection therapy, often resulting in months, if not years of debilitating pain or even surgery.

How it works

The strong stimuli of the pressure waves create pro-inflammatory responses in the chronic tissue where the healing process has stalled and reboots the tissue repair. Cells sense the stimulus, adapting their behaviour and promote tendon regeneration and re-modelling via tenocyte proliferation. Neurophysiological responses also cause an analgesic effect, helping with pain relief.