Shockwave Therapy

What Is Shockwave Therapy?

Shockwave Therapy is a modern and highly effective addition to muscular skeletal rehabilitaion . The How Osteopathic Clinic in Edinburgh was the first osteopathic clinic in Scotland to provide both FOCUS SHOCKWAVES and RADIAL PRESSURE WAVES.

Initially used to dissolve kidney stones without the need for surgery, the use of Shockwave Therapy to treat musculoskelatal disorders and tendon pain began in the 1990’s. Subsequent medical trials have shown a significant increase in the healing process when Shockwave Therapy is used as part of osteopathic treatment.

How Does Shockwave Therapy Work?

The skill in using shockwaves lies in using low levels of mechanical energy to open up biomolecular signal pathways, activate stem cells and stimulate new cell growth.Here is an excellent video of how Shockwaves work by Vennhealthcare

The resonance (shockwave) is able to pentrate deeply into the affected area, stimulating blood flow to facilitate deep tissue healing and removing inflammation while the shockwaves also assist in the stimulation of pro-collagen synthesis enabling tendon regeneration and repair. The resonance created by the shockwaves may also considerably reduce painful sensation by reducing nerve irritation.  Shockwaves boosts the cellular healing processes

What is Shockwave Therapy used to Treat?

Focus Shockwaves and Radial Pressure Waves can be used is a wide range of applications

All osteopathic treatment is centred upon the individual and so there is no comphrensive list of complaints which utlise Shockwave Therapy. As part of your initial consultation and diagnosis, your Helen How will will assess the  treatment best suited to your specific requirements. Shockwave Therapy may be used as part of your treatment depending upon your condition and symptoms.which exercises and stretches.

However, some of the conditions which are relieved by Shockwave Therapy include: back pain and lower back pain, tennis elbow, hip pain, tendon pain and damage to tendons (including damage to the Achilles tendon).  Boney Pathologies such as lower limb stress Fractures and medial Tibial Stress shin splints

Here is a Medial Tibual Stress Fracture of Track and Field Athlete  Recovery using FOCUS Shockwaves

Current Literature

Abdelkader(2021)- rSWT for Achilles Tendinopathy – Double Blind RCT

Moretti(2009)- SWT in Rx of Stress Fractures
Shockwaves Therapy & Sports Rehabilitation.

Osteopath Helen How is highly experienced in the use of both Radial and Focus Shockwave Therapy and which she often uses as part of her sports rehabilitation treatment.  As part of her  Osteopathic CPD, she has attended courses in the use of Shockwave Therapy and lectures on the ways in which Focus and Radial Shockwave Therapy can be used as part of osteopathic treatment and the rehabilitation process.   For several years now she has successfully treated elite and amateur athletes using Shockwave Therapy at the How Osteopathic Clinic and has recently Helen attended seminars on Patella Femoral Pain with Claire Robertson and taken part in a Masterclass In-Running.

Is Shockwave Therapy Safe?

Despite the rather frightening name, Shockwave Therapy, it is an energy wave first used for muscular-skeletal pathologies in the early 1990s. The mechanical stimuli provided by shockwaves opoen up signal transduction pathways at cellular and molecular-biological level between the extracellular matrix and the cell interior.  Growth factors are released.  The activation of stem cells by ESWT is generally what sests in motion the acclerated regeneration of pathological tissue.

Here Focus Shockwaves are being used by Helen for  neurosurgery post operative recovery to reduce pain,so the patient did not need high pain medications, increase mobility for his slow carefully progressed neurohabiliation recovery which took 18 months to regain full range of movement and reverse the muscles weakness, atrophy and deficits