Medical Shockwave technology is not new; in fact, it’s been more than 30 years since physicians in Munich first used Shockwaves to treat a patient afflicted with kidney stones. Instead of removing the stone surgically, the physicians used Shockwaves to break the stone into small pieces, a process called lithotripsy, which then allows the small pieces to naturally leave the body. Since then, the medical potential for Shockwaves has expanded greatly. Orthopedists and sports physicians discovered the use of lower-energy Shockwaves in the early 1990s as a way to heal bones, muscles, tendon insertions and other parts of the body that suffered from chronic pain.
Today orthopaedic conditions such as tennis or golfer’s elbow, bursitis, calcific tendinitis of the shoulder, chronic heel spurs, as well as frozen shoulders, neck pain and even stress fractures, can be treated gently and quickly, often succeeding in treating these conditions, when more traditional therapies have proven ineffective. Furthermore, turning to Shockwave therapy can help patients forgo surgery, along with the associated hospital bills and recovery times.
