WHAT IS SHOCKWAVE THERAPY?

• Shockwave fills the injured structure or area with more cells or ‘building material’. This building material is loaded onto the building site (injury site) and then your ‘workers’ (progressive loading exercises) are going to influence how these new cells are distributed upon your injured structure.

• These radial pressure waves produce an artificial stimulation to the tendon to begin a cascade of positive events which speed up and enhance the process by which the tendon heals and adapts.
• You will be spending around 4 minutes per treatment but are receiving 4 and a half months of worth of therapeutic input.

WHAT DOES THE RESEARCH SAY?

• There is no other conservative orthopaedic treatment that has as many independently validated studies to support it as shockwave therapy with over 300 research papers coming out on it each year.

• There is an 82% chance your tendon will get better if you include shockwave therapy as part of your package.
• 4 sessions are required over 4 weeks to achieve your best results. Collagen and protein synthesis will continue to take place 90 days after your last treatment.

MECHANISM OF ACTION

• Increased blood vessel formation at the tendon-bone junction (Wang 2002, 2003)

• Stimulates vasodilation (increased blood flow)
• Breaks down calcifications (Peters 2004)
• Stimulation & proliferation of new tendon cells (tenocytes) (Chen 2004), white blood cells to clear up cell debris and foreign materials (Rompe 98) and fibroblasts (cells in connective tissue that secrete collagen) (Klonchinski 2011)
• Increased protein synthesis (building new proteins in muscle & tendon) (Bosch 2007)
• Increased collagen synthesis (collagen comprises 80% of the tendon) (Waugh 2015)
• Mechanotransduction (process by which cells migrate to injury site) (Wang 2002)
• Stimulation of nociceptive C-fibers (pain fibres)- causing pain relief

WHAT TYPES OF CONDITIONINGS ARE TREATED?

• Musculoskeletal pathologies such as muscle strains and trigger points (localised tender or painful areas within a muscle)
• Tendinopathies including but not limited to plantar fasciopathy, achilles tendinopathy, golfer’s/tennis elbow, patella tendinopathy, rotator cuff tendinopathy, hamstring tendinopathy and gluteal tendinopathy
• Osteoarthritis (knee)
• Medial Tibial Stress Syndrome (‘Shin Splints’)
• Neurological conditions such as peripheral nerve lesions (e.g. carpal tunnel syndrome)