Shockwave Therapy Treatment

Be Active Physiotherapy is pleased to offer access to Extracorporeal Shockwave Therapy (ESWT) as a part of our services. Shockwave Therapy, or Radial Shockwave Therapy, provides treatments to patients suffering from a range of chronic conditions such as tendinopathies that are notoriously difficult to resolve.

Shockwave treatment was originally developed to treat kidney stones (renal calculi) and is known as Lithotripsy treatment in this area of medicine. It was developed to provide an alternative to surgery in these patients. Some patients who had their kidney stones successfully treated also reported improvement in chronic musculoskeletal conditions in regions, which were in the pathway of the shockwave treatment. The basic principles behind shockwave therapy are the high-pressured acoustic shockwaves that travel through the skin to stimulate pain relief and tissue repair.

Physiological effects of shockwaves

• Revascularization: Increased blood flow to avascular tissue, promoting tissue healing and regeneration.
• Increased metabolism: Shockwaves influence the tissues on a cellular level. The chemical environment of the cells is affected by free radicals promoting the release of pain and inflammatory inhibiting substances. Shockwaves promote tenocyte proliferation resulting in tendon regeneration and remodelling.
• Pain reduction: Shockwaves can interfere with the nervous system and yield neurophysiological responses producing an analgesic effect and the reduction in hypertonia in spastic muscles. This is explained by the pain gate theory.