Shock Wave Therapy

Town Center Foot & Ankle Blog Shock Wave Therapy

If you have conditions like chronic tendinopathy that haven’t responded to other, more conservative forms of treatment, you should know about extracorporeal shock wave therapy (SWT). 

For chronic foot and ankle pain, particularly around your large tendons, SWT might be the answer you’ve been looking for.

At Town Center Foot & Ankle, podiatric physician and surgeon Stephen Eichelsdorfer, DPM, and our care team are always at the cutting edge of medical science. 

Dr. Ike, as he is known, provides the best possible results to new and existing patients in the Kingwood and Atascocita, Texas area. He can use SWT to treat a range of conditions, reducing your symptoms of pain and accelerating the healing process in your soft tissues and bones.

What conditions can SWT treat?

The Food and Drug Administration approved SWT as a treatment for plantar fasciitis. We can also safely and noninvasively treat other musculoskeletal conditions, like tendinopathy. SWT can effectively treat:

If your injury or condition hasn’t responded to initial treatments like rest, icing, or physical therapy, SWT provides a second line of treatment that’s much less invasive than surgical procedures.

How does SWT work?

SWT noninvasively stimulates your musculoskeletal system and natural healing processes. In areas where you have injured soft tissue and pain, SWT can accelerate your natural healing and promote new tissue growth. At Town Center Foot & Ankle, we provide treatment using the Mettler Auto*Wave 695 technology.

The mechanical pressure and force generated during treatment increases the permeability of your cell membranes, improving your circulation and metabolism. SWT has a direct impact on your local nerve endings, reducing your overall levels of pain. 

Calcific deposits can also be dissolved with this type of therapy.

Each treatment session lasts for around half an hour. After your treatment, you might see some light side effects, such as bruising, swelling, or numbness. With just a day or two of decreased activity following your treatment session, you should be completely recovered.

What type of SWT do you need?

SWT comes in multiple intensities. With high energy SWT, we use a specialized technology to create a short (around 10msec) burst of high-intensity energy, registering at 5-100MPa. 

We break the sound barrier, generating a targeted shock wave. The shock wave stimulates your osteoblasts and fibroblasts, cells that govern bone and tissue healing.

You could also benefit from low energy SWT. This treatment uses what can be more technically described as a pressure wave, rather than a true shock wave. 

Without breaking the sound barrier, a true shock wave isn’t produced. Rather, we use longer, slower, and less intense radial pressure waves to decrease the amount of focused energy targeting your damaged tissues.

Depending on your condition and overall health care needs, our Town Center Foot & Ankle team can recommend the best SWT procedure to get you on your feet and running again. You may need a series of treatments to see your best results.

To find out if you’re a candidate for SWT, get in touch with Dr. Ike and the Town Center Foot & Ankle team today. You can schedule your initial consultation appointment over the phone, or request an appointment with our online tool.

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