If you’ve been dealing with foot or heel pain that just won’t go away, you may have heard of shockwave therapy.
Shockwave therapy is a non-invasive treatment that uses acoustic waves to deliver energy into painful or damaged tissues. It can be used for a number of ongoing foot and ankle problems and may be considered when other treatments haven’t provided the improvement you’d hoped for.
At Supafoot, we offer both focused and radial shockwave therapy, allowing us to choose the most appropriate approach for each patient.
What can shockwave therapy help with?
Shockwave therapy can be used for a range of foot and ankle problems, including:
- Persistent heel pain, including plantar fasciopathy
- Achilles tendon problems
- Some tendon and soft tissue problems
- Certain sports and activity-related injuries
It isn’t suitable for every type of foot pain, which is why an assessment is important before starting treatment.
How does shockwave therapy work?
Despite the name, there are no electric shocks involved.
Instead, a treatment head delivers controlled acoustic waves into the tissues. This creates a mechanical stimulus which may help support the body’s natural repair processes and help with persistent pain.
Shockwave isn’t simply a painkiller. The aim is to create a treatment effect that continues after your appointment, so improvement may develop over several weeks rather than immediately.
Focused or radial shockwave?
There are different types of shockwave therapy, and we have both at Supafoot.
Radial shockwave spreads the treatment energy out over a wider area. This can be useful when we want to treat a larger or more widespread area.
Focused shockwave concentrates the treatment energy on a specific area. This allows us to target a particular problem more precisely, including areas that are deeper within the body.
Neither is automatically better than the other. Your podiatrist will consider the problem being treated and the tissues involved when deciding which approach is most appropriate.
Having both options allows us to tailor treatment to the individual rather than taking a one-size-fits-all approach.
Is shockwave therapy painful?
You will usually feel a series of rapid pulses or tapping during treatment. Some areas can feel uncomfortable, particularly if they are already painful.
The intensity can be adjusted to help keep you comfortable while still providing an appropriate treatment.
Shockwave therapy is non-invasive and there is usually little or no downtime afterwards.
How many treatments will I need?
This depends on your condition, how long you’ve had the problem and how you respond to treatment.
A course of several treatments is often recommended rather than expecting one session to solve a long-standing problem. Your podiatrist will explain what they would recommend following your assessment.
Shockwave may also be combined with other treatments, such as exercises, footwear advice, activity changes or custom orthotics.
Could shockwave therapy help you?
If persistent foot or heel pain is stopping you from walking, exercising or enjoying the things you love, shockwave therapy may be worth considering.
At Supafoot, we’ll first assess what’s causing your pain and then talk you through the treatment options that may help.
To find out more about shockwave therapy, book a musculoskeletal assessment with one of our podiatrists.
