If you are an athlete, you are likely to put your body through some serious wear and tear. Areas of the body especially prone to this include your joints and soft tissue, like your tendons. These fibrous bands connect muscle to bone and are part of what helps your body to move. Tendons are located throughout the body and can take a beating no matter your level of physical activity.
Should your tendons become injured, shockwave therapy is an innovative, noninvasive, in-office procedure that can treat it quickly. So, why should you choose shockwave therapy over other treatment options for tendinopathy?
What Is Tendinopathy?
Tendinopathy refers to damage to the tendons, typically due to overuse. It differs from tendonitis, which describes inflammation of the tendon. In other words, persistent tendonitis can lead to tendinopathy.
Common areas of the body where the tendons may become injured include the legs, arms, shoulders, elbows, knees, and feet. Your Achilles tendon, which connects your calf muscle to your heel bone, is the largest and strongest tendon in your body. It is one of the most common tendons that become injured, especially among athletes.
Anyone can suffer from tendinopathy at any point in their lives, but some have a higher risk of developing it. This includes:
- Athletes
- People who are 40 years old and older
- People with poor muscle strength
- People with certain medical conditions
- People taking certain medications
If you have tendinopathy, you will likely feel it where the tendon connects to the bone. Pain and swelling in the area are common.
What Is Shockwave Therapy?
This procedure, also known as extracorporeal shock wave therapy, or ESWT, is a non-surgical treatment for tendon, muscle, and joint pain. It is a type of regenerative medicine that uses high-energy sound waves to increase blood flow and growth hormones to the area to stimulate the body’s natural healing process.
The Advantages of Shockwave Therapy
Here are the top five advantages of this procedure:
1. It Is a Noninvasive Treatment
During shockwave therapy, your doctor does not have to make any incisions for the pressure to reach your tendon. That is thanks to the fact that the shock waves are powerful enough to penetrate the skin to the target tendon. This also means your provider can treat your tendinopathy without the dangers and risks common in surgical procedures.
2. There Are No Drugs Involved
Shockwave therapy is a painless procedure, and no anesthetic is necessary. Studies have shown that numbing agents can actually negatively impact the success of this treatment. No post-procedure pain medication is needed, either.
3. It Can Help You Get Back on Your Feet in No Time
Another advantage shockwave therapy has is that there is no downtime. One session takes about 30 minutes, and there is no recovery time needed afterward. You can expect to feel some relief as quickly as a day after the procedure. Full effects will be seen weeks later.
4. It Is Extremely Safe
Because it is not like surgery or other invasive procedures, shockwave therapy is very safe. While there are minor side effects like mild bruising, swelling, pain, numbness, or tingling in the treated area, these side effects, when they occur, resolve shortly after the procedure.
5. It Boosts Your Body’s Natural Healing Process
Shockwave therapy boosts blood flow, prevents cells in the tendons from degenerating, and promotes cellular growth. This makes the procedure a suitable alternative or complement to other forms of treatment, especially other conservative approaches like stretching and resting.
Shockwave Therapy Near You in Dallas, TX
Shockwave therapy is an effective treatment for tendinopathy and other problems affecting your tendons. It is also just one of the many available treatment options we offer at Reagan Integrated Sports Medicine in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. As athletes themselves, our sports medicine and chiropractic providers fully understand the need to return to the field or court after an injury. Our office features state-of-the-art equipment to treat orthopedic problems of all kinds.
Would you like to know more about shockwave therapy for tendinopathy? Our highly trained and experienced sports medicine providers are ready to answer your questions. Schedule a consultation by calling us today at (972) 503-7272 or using our convenient online appointment scheduling form.
We look forward to serving you!
