Extracorporeal shockwave therapy (ESWT) is a type of treatment using a specialist medical device which generates mechanical pressure waves which are passed into injured tissue. The pressure waves generate physiological responses in the tissue causing increased blood flow, anti-inflammatory responses and increased tissue healing.
This can be particularly useful for chronic injuries, which have effectively been a failed healing response from the body, in which the shockwave treatment kick starts the healing process over again, leading to pain and function improvement.
There is an increasing body of scientific evidence and studies showing the effectiveness of ESWT in the treatment of various musculoskeletal conditions and pain, and is endorsed by the National Institute of Clinical Effectiveness (NICE) for treating several conditions. There is high quality evidence showing the effectiveness of ESWT for conditions such as tendinopathies (Achilles, gluteal, patellar shoulder and elbow), plantar fasciitis (heel pain), and bone stress injuries such as shin splints (medial tibial stress syndrome).
There is also emerging evidence that ESWT can help with faster healing of more acute injuries such as muscle strains and tears, osteoarthritis, lower back pain and nerve injuries. Most people will see a significant improvement in their symptoms after three treatments, but sometimes up to six treatments may be required for significant improvement or resolution of symptoms.
Dr Ian Burton has published extensively in world leading scientific journals on the use of ESWT for musculoskeletal injuries, particularly tendinopathy and plantar fasciitis, and as such is ranked as a world leading expert in ESWT and the foremost expert in Scotland by expertscape.com.
