What Conditions Can Shockwave Therapy Treat?

Shockwave therapy is a nonsurgical treatment for managing pain. It generates a series of low-energy pulses that a doctor applies to an injury. The waves vibrate through the skin and into the injured area to stimulate healing. 

Shockwave therapy helps relieve pain and encourage recovery from lingering tendon and soft-tissue injuries or pain arising from an ailment. You do not need pain medication with shockwave therapy. The therapy's purpose is to start your body's natural healing process. 

What conditions can shockwave therapy treat?

Achilles Tendinopathy

Achilles tendinopathy is an injury to the tendon (Achilles tendon) that joins your calf muscles to your heel bone. It causes stiffness and swelling along the back of the leg close to the heel. Achilles tendinopathy is a common injury in sprinters, recreational exercisers, and even inactive folks. Studies show that shockwave therapy is effective in treating Achilles tendinopathy.  

Plantar Fasciitis

Plantar fasciitis is the thick tissue swelling that joins your heel bone to your toes. The swollen tissues run across the bottom of your injured foot, causing a piercing pain near your heel. Shockwave therapy helps ease swelling and pain from plantar fasciitis. 

Golfer's Elbow

Golfer's elbow is an injury that triggers pain in the tendons inside your elbows. It results from repetitive or extreme stress from forceful motions in your wrist or finger. The energy pulses from shockwave therapy activate cells within the injured tendons to release collagen for tissue repair.

Tennis Elbow

Tennis elbow is inflammation of the tendons that turn your wrist towards the back, away from your palm. The condition can arise from repetitive arm and wrist movements. With tennis elbow, shockwave therapy can reduce the harshness of the pain and improve flexibility and motion.

Jumper's Knee

Jumper's knee is a tendon swelling that joins your kneecap to your shinbone. It is a sport's-related wound that results from overusing your knee joint. Applying low-energy shock waves to the injury helps speed the recovery of the injured tissues.

Calcific Tendonitis

Calcific tendonitis is an inflammation where calcium crystals grow in the tendons. That happens when calcium deposits accumulate in your tendons or muscles and can occur anywhere in your body. Shockwave therapy helps disintegrate the calcium deposits and ease swelling, promoting speedy recovery.

Retrocalcaneal Bursitis

Everyone has a bursa behind their ankles and close to their heel bones, called the retrocalcaneal bursa. Bursitis occurs when a bursa becomes hurt, causing discomfort. Retrocalcaneal bursitis goes away with shockwave therapy.

Morton's Neuroma

Morton's neuroma is a stiffening of the tissue around the nerves connected to your toes. It can cause stabbing and burning pain and numbness in the injured toe. Shockwave therapy is an alternative treatment to surgery for Morton's neuroma. 

Non-union Bone Fractures

Some broken bones are difficult to heal even after medications or surgical treatment. They result in a condition called non-union fractures. But shockwave therapy is successful in treating lingering cases of non-union bone fractures.

Other conditions that shockwave therapy can treat include:

• Leg pain from hamstring wounds.
• Shoulder pain from rotator cuff injury.
• Hip pain from gluteal tendinopathy.

Many patients report reduced pain and improved mobility in their soft tissues six to eight weeks after treatment with shockwave therapy. Talk to your doctor about shockwave therapy if you have a soft-tissue injury that is not improving with treatment.

For more about the conditions that shockwave therapy can treat, visit Garmone Chiropractic at our office in Depew, New York. Call (716) 668-5400 to book an appointment today.