Whether acute or chronic, living with foot pain can make you feel physically and mentally exhausted and steal your zest for life. If no treatment has alleviated the symptoms, it may be worth considering Extracorporeal Shockwave therapy.
But before we get into the details of this revolutionary therapy, let’s establish the main causes of foot pain.
Unless you have suffered from an injury, your feet are not supposed to hurt. Experiencing regular soreness in your feet can be a sign of having developed a foot condition, such as a fractured or broken bone, a ligament sprain, a tendon strain, or even a bone tumour.
In addition, many lifestyle habits, such as being on your feet all day, exercising, or wearing ill-fitting shoes, can cause your feet to ache. The pain becomes chronic because of the increased stress placed on the feet over a long period of time. So it’s important to establish how kind you are to your feet and make the necessary adjustments to your lifestyle to prevent any problem from worsening.
On the other hand, if you have an injury and have been diagnosed with a condition, such as Plantar Fasciitis, shin splints, Achilles Tendinopathy, Patella Tendinopathy, or acute arthritis, you may have already received a number of treatments to alleviate the pain. If unfortunately, the symptoms still persist, you may qualify to receive Extracorporeal Shockwave therapy.
When you suffer from a chronic injury, the tissues in your foot have changed, and they’re no longer healthy but damaged and inflamed. If treatments don’t address the root of the problem, in this case, the damaged tissue, the pain persists. You may have found that you respond well to anti-inflammatories, but the pain reoccurs as soon as you stop the treatment. Therefore, the solution is to try to remodel the damaged tissue back into healthy tissue so that it functions correctly, supporting your feet.
What is Extracorporeal Shockwave therapy?
Extracorporeal Shockwave Therapy is a quick, safe, and non-invasive treatment that uses high energy pulses of sound waves to target the specific damaged tissue inside the tendon. This process is intended to promote your body’s natural healing for repairing bones, tendons and other soft tissues. The focused energy increases the blood flow within the affected area, stimulating cell regeneration and repair and decreasing the local factors causing pain.
When can you have Shockwave therapy?
We use Shockwave therapy on patients who suffer from Plantar Fasciitis, shin splints, Achilles Tendinopathy, Patella Tendinopathy, acute arthritis and chronic pain injuries that have reached a non-healing state.
Many people receive Shockwave therapy as an alternative treatment to steroid injections, medications, and surgery, finding that it provides immediate pain relief.
How does Shockwave Therapy work?
Shockwave therapy sends acoustic waves to the damaged tissue at a cellular level, causing a mechanical disruption in the treated area. In doing so, the waves irritate the microvasculature system in the area, increasing the blood supply. This irritation is picked up by the body’s immune system as a new injury, activating its natural healing mechanism to repair the damage. As part of the repairing process, the body will boost the formation of new blood vessels, causing an increase in blood circulation in the affected tissue.
What does Shockwave Therapy involve?
Shockwave therapy is administered via a handheld device connected to a machine. First, an ultrasound gel is applied to the painful area of the foot to help the tissue absorb the acoustic waves.
Once the machine is activated, compressed air is sent to the handheld device. This action propels a small projectile down the handpiece’s tube, causing it to oscillate back and forth. The projectile’s kinetic energy travels into the injured tissue, creating a miniature injury at the surface of that tissue, which causes some swelling and redness. Your body’s response to this injury stems cell regeneration and kicks off its natural healing, as well as decreasing local factors that can cause pain.
When people suffer from Achilles Tendinopathy or Plantar Fasciitis for a very long time, their body is not aggressively trying to heal the injured tissue. Shockwave therapy has proven to be very effective in boosting the body’s natural mechanism for healing, promoting the production of new white cells to engulf the tissue debris and generate healthy tissue.
What is the success rate of Shockwave therapy?
Most people find substantial results after 4-6 treatments, with one session a week. There is a significant reduction in pain and increased tolerance of loading.
If you have experienced trouble with running, jumping or simply walking, you’ll find that you can gradually increase the activity and do more and more.
Is Shockwave therapy painful?
Shockwave therapy is not considered painful. However, the sound waves will add a little pressure over the affected area, producing a slight feeling of discomfort during the treatment.
The good news is that the treatment lasts only about five minutes, making it bearable for most patients. If pain is an issue, we can adjust the intensity of the waves throughout the session.
If you’re struggling to resolve your foot pain and would like to find out if Shockwave Therapy could work for you, book a consultation to arrange an initial medical assessment.
