/assets/production/practices/9d8a3a3a089e655674273b77d8ee3a64d656e417/images/2683007.jpeg)
Have you suffered from an injury and are experiencing chronic pain or a slow healing response? If you want to avoid costly and invasive surgery, shockwave therapy may be a great choice. At Family Wellness at Teravista in Round Rock, Texas, Bolden Harris, DC, and the team offers shockwave therapy treatments to patients of all ages. Whether you’re looking to alleviate pain or speed up your body’s natural healing process, noninvasive and painless shockwave therapy is a quick and effective treatment option. To book a consultation, reach out by phone or online today.
Shockwave Therapy Q & A
What is shockwave therapy?
Your provider administers noninvasive shockwave therapy, also known as extracorporeal shockwave therapy (EPAT), to a tendon or muscle with a small, handheld device.
Shockwave therapy is particularly helpful in speeding up your healing process if you’re recovering from an injury or chronic pain. It jump-starts your body’s ability to regenerate new tissue and alleviates pain by stimulating nerves at the site of your injury.
Shockwave therapy is ideal for athletes or patients who want to avoid surgery for chronic pain or injuries.
What can shockwave therapy treat?
The Family Wellness at Teravista team may recommend shockwave to:
- Improve circulation around injured soft tissues
- Stimulate cells that generate new bone and connective tissue
- Reduce pain by overstimulating nerve endings in the treatment area
- Break down calcific deposits in damaged tissue
These benefits of shockwave therapy can treat:
- Neck, shoulder, leg, or back pain
- Sports injuries
- Tennis or golfer’s elbow
- Jumper’s knee
- Car accident injuries
- Strains and sprains in ligaments, tendons, or muscles
- Headaches
- Musculoskeletal conditions
- Plantar fasciitis
- Whiplash
- Temporomandibular joint disorder (TMJD)
The team won’t recommend shockwave therapy if your soft tissue is severely torn, as it could worsen your condition. Before proceeding with shockwave therapy, let your provider know if you’re pregnant, have a bleeding disorder, or have malignant tumors in nearby tissue.
What happens during shockwave therapy?
Your provider performs shockwave therapy in-office and uses a handheld device to deliver acoustic energy through the skin to the injured part of your body. They apply a special gel to the affected area so your body is more receptive to the shock waves.
The shockwaves are audible, low-energy mechanical (not electric) sound waves. These waves increase blood flow to the injured treatment area and desensitize nerve endings, leading to immediate pain reduction.
The shockwaves also cause controlled micro-trauma in your tissues. Your body then responds by increasing blood circulation and metabolism in the area, accelerating the body’s natural healing response.
You can expect the procedure to take around five minutes and be painless with only mild discomfort.
Your provider usually starts you on a trial run of 2-3 sessions. This helps them evaluate if there’s an improvement or if you’d also benefit from chiropractic adjustments, massage therapy, or a health and wellness program.
To learn more about innovative shockwave therapy, call Family Wellness at Teravista today or use the convenient online scheduling tool.