Shock Therapy For Knee Pain
Shock therapy for knee pain is a non-invasive, safe, and effective treatment that can help alleviate pain and enhance mobility. It works by stimulating the body’s natural healing process to repair damaged or injured tissues – making it beneficial to those suffering from sports injuries to joint and bone issues.
The process involves using a device that compresses compressed air into sound waves which are transmitted through the skin and absorbed by damaged or injured tissue. These stimulate blood flow in the affected area, leading to minor inflammation. Over time, however, this inflammation naturally resolves itself and the damaged or injured tissues begin to recover.
Shock therapy has many applications, such as treating hamstring tendinopathy and plantar fasciitis. Additionally, it may be employed to relieve chronic pain that has not responded to other treatments.
Your therapist will use a special machine to deliver low energy sound waves (or acoustics) directly into the affected area. These vibrations penetrate skin and reach deep within tissue to target injured or damaged tissues, providing an efficient method of relieving pain since only those injured or damaged tissues receive treatment.
Shock waves can also help break down scar tissue, which may be causing your discomfort. This type of thick and fibrous tissue isn’t elastic like normal tissues, leading to immobility and discomfort in the surrounding areas.
You’ll need to attend a series of shockwave sessions, each one one week apart, until you begin to see improvements in your condition. This could take anywhere from several weeks or even months depending on how quickly the treatment takes effect and the individual’s condition.
Some conditions require multiple treatments to achieve full effectiveness; your therapist can suggest the appropriate course of action.
Research has demonstrated that the intensity and number of shockwaves can significantly influence the effectiveness of shock therapy for various conditions, especially osteoarthritis. A study of 89 patients with knee pain revealed that radial extracorporeal shock wave therapy (rESWT) with medium intensity and 2,000 impulses resulted in greater reductions in pain and function than lower intensity treatments or a control group that received no treatment at all.
Researchers used two-way repeated measures analysis of variance to compare the effects of different treatment parameters, such as shock intensity and number, on pain and function. Results revealed that rESWT with medium intensity and higher density (lower shock number) is most effective at relieving pain and improving function for those suffering from knee osteoarthritis.
Shockwave therapy has also been demonstrated to be successful for a range of musculoskeletal conditions, such as patellar tendonitis, nonunions and muscle and connective tissue injuries. It’s an efficient yet gentle solution for relieving pain in those suffering from long-term knee disorders like osteoarthritis.
