Most patients experience immediate pain relief after treatment. However, 2 to 4 hours after treatment, some people may experience some sensitivity in the treated area, which should be tolerable and not limiting. In the days after shockwave therapy, you may experience swelling and redness in the treated area. This can make the pain worse, but it's indicative of the healing process, it's completely normal and will go away in a day or two.
It's not uncommon to feel a little pain afterwards and have some bruising in the treatment area. After the procedure, it's best to avoid anti-inflammatory drugs, such as Advil, as stimulating the cascade of inflammation is part of the healing process that activates ESWT. Aside from that, you can do your normal activities, which usually include exercising if you feel like doing so. The recovery time is usually quite short.
After treatment, the patient can get up to walk almost at once. Many people can fully resume their daily activities in a day or two. Special diets are not required, but drinking plenty of water helps the stone fragments to pass through. For several weeks, you may expel stone fragments.
Shockwave therapy, also known as extracorporeal shockwave therapy, is given to a tendon or muscle through the skin with a small portable device similar to an ultrasound probe. If you have scar tissue in the area that contributes to the pain, shockwave therapy will also help you break down this thick, fibrous tissue. The list of ways patients describe Extracorporeal Shockwave Therapy (ESWT) is almost as long as the list of conditions that this advanced treatment can help heal. Sound waves stimulate blood flow to the area and also cause a small amount of localized inflammation.
If you have any type of tendinopathy or soft tissue injury that doesn't respond to more conservative treatment, research suggests it might be worth trying shockwave therapy. They can easily penetrate the skin and, once they pass through it, they radiate like a shock wave throughout the affected muscle, joint, or tendon. When you undergo shock wave treatment, your therapist will use a portable device connected to a machine that converts compressed air into sound waves. Shockwave therapy has also been approved by the FDA as a treatment for lateral tennis elbow and plantar fasciitis, giving patients hope.
Most patients require three shockwave therapy sessions, each one a week apart, before significant pain relief is noticed. In the 1990s, scientists began studying the effects of high-energy shockwave therapy on soft tissue injuries. When the projectile hits the applicator's head, it creates energy that is converted into acoustic pressure waves. Shockwave therapy is also known as Extracorporeal Shockwave Therapy (ESWT) or Radial Shockwave Therapy (RSWT).
You can continue to live your life while receiving shockwave therapy for plantar fasciitis, bursitis, or tennis elbow, instead of setting aside time for a long surgical recovery. Shockwave therapy is a non-invasive, non-surgical treatment, but you may feel some pain or discomfort in the treatment area during the procedure. Shockwave therapy can also be combined with a physical therapy program to get injured people back to work or to playing their favorite sport faster.