Extracorporeal Shockwave Therapy (ESWT)/ EPAT. Extracorporeal Shock Wave Therapy, (or ESWT), is a new technology using shockwaves totreat chronic, painful conditions of the musculoskeletal system. A shockwave is anintense, but very short energy wave traveling faster than the speed of sound. The word"Extra-corporeal" means "outside the body" and refers to the fact that the shockwaves aregenerated outside the body.
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What is Shockwave Biosurgery? Extracorporeal shockwave therapy (ESWT) is sometimes alternatively known as shockwavebiosurgery, though ESWT isn't surgery as the word is usually defined or understood in North America. Conditions that can be treated with ESWT? Extracorporeal Shock Wave Therapy can be used to treat a wide variety of musculoskeletalconditions-- particularly those involving where major connective tissues attach to bone.
Complaints involving attachment points for tendons and ligaments in major joints like theshoulder (such as the rotator cuff), elbow (epicondylitis or tennis elbow), hip, and knee(tendinitis or jumper's knee) are common sites for ESWT. One of the areas most frequently treated with ESWT, however, is the foot. Conditions wetreat using Extracorporeal Shockwave Therapy (ESWT) include: ● Plantar Fasciitis or Fasciosis (Strained Arch). ● Achilles Tendinitis or Tendinosis. ● Calcific Tendinitis or Tendinosis. ● Connective Tissue Pain and degeneration. ● Muscle Pain and Injuries. ● Joint Injuries including work injuries and sport injuries. ● Morton's Neuromas. And as ESWT encourages bone healing, it has been used to help treat: ● Stress Fractures. ● Avascular Necrosis (A dead portion of bone). ● Slow-healing bone (Delayed unions). ● Non-healing bone (Non-unions). ● There are also urological conditions that respond to ESWT, such as Peyronie's Disease. When its advised to use Extracorporeal Shockwave Therapy (ESWT). ● When patient has a diagnosis that is considered to be responsive to ESWT. ● When simpler and less expensive treatment alternatives have failed or aren't appropriatefor some reason. ● When surgery or other more invasive treatments are alternatives. ● When there are no known contraindications to the procedure. When Extracorporeal Shockwave Therapy (ESWT) can not be used?
ESWT is not typically used in the presence of bone tumours, certain metabolic boneconditions, and certain nerve or circulation disorders. ESWT isn't typically used in pregnant patients and locations of an open growth plate,(where the bone is still growing). It's not currently used in areas where an infection ispresent, (though there is some early research suggesting ESWT may actually help withinfection). It also shouldn't be used in conditions or locations where gas or air is present in thebody, (rare in the locations where ESWT is typically used)-- or for other conditions asdetermined by your doctor. ESWT effectiveness. The vast majority of recent studies suggest that shockwave is highly effective. mostrecent independent studies suggest somewhere between a 65% and a 95% "success" range, withvalues around 80% being the most commonly cited number. It's important to note that mostof these studies have success rates as determined by the patient, himself, in terms ofpain and function. We find that our results with the highly accurate piezoelectric technology, are at leastthis successful. The most important factor in getting a good result with ESWT appears tobe in selecting appropriate patients most likely to benefit from this technology. However,we can't predict which patients will respond successfully to ESWT and which ones won't. How fast does ESWT work? We find that many patients get an initial degree of improvement almost immediatelyfollowing treatment. This effect is usually (but not always) temporary, and is associatedwith an anesthesia effect from the hyperstimulation of the tissue from the ESWT. It takes several days for injuries to begin to heal, and many patients see an improvementbefore the end of the second week. Depending upon your diagnosis, the healing process maytake several weeks or even months to be completed, but pain relief often precedes thecompletion of the healing process. How safe is ESWT?
The basic technology involved with extracorporeal shockwave technology has been used fordecades now on quite literally millions of people. The technology has been used mostextensively in Europe, particularly the German-speaking countries, where this technologyoriginates. In all its use, ESWT of the musculoskeletal system has been found to havevirtually no serious side-effects. In fact, even mild side effects like tingling, aching,redness, or bruising are relatively rare, modest and short-lived. Further, effects like these appear to be more common with higher energy treatments,particularly those from earlier generations of ESWT technology than that which we use.We'll discuss more about the different ESWT technologies below. How does ESWT work? During EPAT therapy thousands of tiny acoustic sound waves are painlessly applied to thearea of injury. The application of acoustic waves creates micro-ruptures in thecapillaries of the tendon and bone and significantly increase the body's response to sendhealing cells to the area. The new cells improve the blood supply and the oxygenation resulting in expedited healingof the injury. This is the same technology that has been used in recent years to break upkidney stones without surgery and is now being applied to those with chronic pain andinjuries. This treatment is performed on an outpatient basis and requires no anesthesia. Visit our website ​https://nydnrehab.com/treatment-methods/shockwave/ to make an appointment today.