Expert Shockwave Therapy in Timperley and Altrincham
Services
What is shockwave therapy?
Shockwave therapy is a form of electrotherapy in which a person is treated with high intensity acoustic sound waves. A shockwave ‘gun’ houses a chamber in which a small bearing is fired back and forth, emitting an acoustic shockwave from the end of the treatment end. This is placed on the irritated or injured tissue to absorb the force.
Shockwave therapy is particularly effective for tissues like tendons and ligaments which don’t have as good of a blood supply, especially if they have been sore or injured for a long time.
Do I need shockwave therapy?
Shockwave therapy can be a very helpful treatment approach for stubborn and irritable tendon-related pain.
Shockwave therapy may help your pain by causing a controlled dose of disruption to the tissue called ‘cavitation.’ Gas bubbles inside and in the space between tissues is vibrated at a high frequency which can inflame the tendon and trigger a healing response. This has a very similar effect that exercise does on tendons, so is useful at times when it is challenging to achieve an optimal profile of loading of exercise, or exercise is aggravating the tissues.
The acoustic forces of a shockwave machine are also believed to ‘oblate’ nerve endings, which effectively means it can misshapen them which reduces their ability to transmit painful sensation.
Because of the nature of the tissues shockwave is most effective at treating, the effects are best when treatment is cumulative, meaning it only tends to take significant effect after 4-6 sessions. Some courses of treatment need to be longer.
Finally, shockwave can be a helpful way to progress out of pain and to move the needle on function, however is most effective when it is dovetailed with a focused approach to rehabilitation, to ensure the tissues being treated are as strong and well conditioned as they can be.
Is shockwave safe?
There are very few historical cases of complications following shockwave.
Shockwave can be quite uncomfortable however. The nature of transmitting high powered acoustic waves into tissues can itself be uncomfortable, however your clinician should tailor the dosage to be comfortably manageable.
There are a few cases where shockwave should not be used. For example: pregnancy, open wounds or infections at the treatment site, blood clotting disorders, if you are taking blood-thinners, and the presence of certain medical implants including metalwork or pacemakers.
Shockwave should also not be used over bundles of nervous tissues including but not limited to the spinal cord, the brachial plexus, the neck, brainstem and brain. Eyes, abdominal organs and lung tissues should also not be exposed to shockwaves.
Pricing
Our prices are listed below and for booking or further information please contact us.
A niggling injury that won’t go away? A new pain that’s appeared out of nowhere? Not sure if or how we can help? Just give us a call and one of our expert therapists can discuss your needs and explain if and how we can help. For more complex cases, we also have our range of specialist services including Children’s Injury Service, Rheumatology, Performance Nutrition or Second Opinion Clinic.