Services
Shockwave Therapy
Shockwave therapy involves the use of high-powered sound waves, originally used in medicine to break down kidney stones. These sound waves have since been proven effective in treating musculoskeletal conditions, particularly long-term tendon issues
How does Shockwave Therapy work?
- Breaks Down Injured Tissues and Calcifications: Shockwaves help disintegrate damaged tissues and calcium deposits.
- Enhances Blood Circulation and Metabolism: This stimulation accelerates the healing process.
- Provides Pain Relief: Through hyper-stimulation analgesia, the therapy induces a pain-relieving effect by causing cellular microtrauma.
Tendon problems can be particularly stubborn and resistant to standard treatments, especially if they have been present for a long time. This is because tendons and ligaments have a poorer blood supply compared to muscles, making healing harder and slower. This is where shockwave therapy comes in handy.
Shockwave therapy is recommended by numerous National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guidelines and has been shown to be effective when other treatments have failed. Here at Prime therapy clinic we don’t use shockwave as a standalone treatment, it will always be supplemented with some manual therapy, home advice and a rehabilitation program as this is what is shown to deliver the best results.
The conditions for which shockwave treatment is helpful include:
- Plantar Fasciitis (heel pain)
- Achilles Tendinopathy
- Rotator Cuff Tendinopathy
- Calcific Tendonitis (shoulder)
- Lateral Epicondylitis (tennis elbow)
- Medial Epicondylitis (golfer's elbow)
- Patellar Tendonitis (jumper's knee)
- Greater Trochanteric Pain Syndrome (hip pain)
*NICE guidelines for the treatment of:
- https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/ipg376 Greater trochanteric bursitis
- https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/ipg313 Tennis elbow
- https://www.nice.org.uk/search?q=IPG312 Achilles tendinopathy
- https://www.nice.org.uk/search?q=IPG311 Plantar fasciitis
- https://www.nice.org.uk/Search?q=IPG21 Calcific tendinopathy of the shoulder