Increase circulation around injured soft tissue · Break down calcified deposits (such as kidney stones) · Stimulate cells that generate new bone. eSWT is an advanced treatment that uses acoustic shock waves to eliminate soft tissue calcifications, improve collagen synthesis, release growth factors, and stimulate the body's healing process to alleviate pain and help you stay active. Shockwave therapy sends high-energy acoustic waves to injured parts of the body that need healing. The shock wave is a physical sound wave, a “discharge”, not an electrical one.
To help you learn more about shockwave therapy and who can benefit from treatment, we asked Piantanida to explain it to us more. The SWT has been available in Canada since the mid-90s, but has recently become popular with the arrival of the low-power SWT. SWT is an intervention that stimulates the body's natural healing process. In addition, SWT has been shown to have a direct effect on local nerve endings, resulting in a decrease of pain.
It's important to understand the difference between low and high energy SWT when considering whether you're a suitable candidate for SWT and what type of SWT is most likely to show positive results in treating your condition. The clinical term for this treatment used by urologists is low-intensity shock wave therapy (LiSWT). During treatment, a small wand-shaped device uses specific sound waves to stimulate penile tissue and stimulate blood flow, which can also accelerate the healing process. Low-intensity shock waves have also been shown to grow new blood vessels and improve blood flow in the penis, which is essential for erections.
If you have any type of tendinopathy or soft tissue injury that doesn't respond to more conservative treatment, research suggests that shockwave therapy might be worth trying. In the present study, the authors review and discuss the main biological mechanisms triggered by the application of extracorporeal shock wave therapy to support the treatment of musculoskeletal injuries as a regenerative medicine technique. Extracorporeal shock wave therapy (ESWT) has become a popular non-invasive therapeutic modality in the field of orthopedics and traumatology for the treatment of many musculoskeletal disorders, including problematic soft tissue injuries. In addition, it is important that you have been prescribed this treatment by a licensed professional and that you only receive shock wave therapy from a qualified doctor.
From a different perspective, some research28 points out that it may be misleading to refer to RSWT as true shock wave therapy because, technically, these devices do not generate “real shock waves”. In group A, people received a session of 2000 impulsive shockwaves at high doses, while participants in group B received 2 sessions of the same treatment modality one week apart; the procedure was performed with an electromagnetic lithotriptor. Energy flow density (EFD) is the parameter used by professionals based on the energy flow of shock waves through an area with an orientation perpendicular to the direction of propagation. Shockwave therapy is generally recommended for patients who don't respond well to medication or who don't want more invasive treatments.
Shockwave therapy is an alternative, non-invasive treatment for active patients who struggle with pain and don't respond to conventional treatment after an injury. Shockwave therapy can also be combined with a physical therapy program to get injured people back to work or play their favorite sport faster. Shockwave therapy devices emit shock waves of acoustic energy in a nanosecond or microsecond phase to stimulate healing of injured soft tissues, ligaments and tendons. According to research, shock wave therapy can significantly reduce pain caused by tendinopathies and improve the patient's quality of life.
The doctor will also not consider shockwave therapy when it's clear that an injury requires surgery rather than non-invasive treatment. If you've had an injury to a tendon, elbow, or hamstring, your doctor may recommend wave therapy of shock.