Skip to main content

Radial Shockwave Therapy

I scheduled an appointment with the Chiropractor whom my doctor had told me had the Radial Shockwave machine. This is my Chiropractor whom I've been seeing for more than 20 years. My family consider him a friend and trust his opinion in all medical matters. Dr. Henbid indicated the Physiotherapist in his office does the Shockwave treatment. He gave me a thorough chiropractic session and also looked up my x-ray of my right foot. He described the heel spur as a "doosey". Although this may not have been the most medical way of explaining it, it did make me feel better as now did not feel that I was exaggerating my pain. I later arranged to get a copy of this x-ray to take it to my Podiatrist.


The following week, I made an appointment to see the PhysioTherapist, Pat Irwin, for my first Shockwave Treatment and was told not to use any anti-inflammatory agents for 48hrs prior to my appointment.

The machine they have is the Storz Medical Masterplus MP100. The handout Pat Irwin provided me with says; "A shockwave is an intense, but very short energy wave travelling faster than the speed of sound. The basic technology involved with extracorporeal shockwave is not new. It has no side effects, is a non-surgical treatment and is available at a reasonable cost. Non invasive and promotes accelerated recovery to injured soft tissue, bone, heel and joint pain. Coverage is available from most insurance coverage under Physiotherapy or Chiropractic treatment. Sessions are generally 20-30 minutes in length, and permanent relief typically begins about 72 hours following treatment. It is recommended to do 3-6 treatments."


Pat Irwin, further indicated she has had several patients, but so far only one has needed more than three treatments. Pat indicated the pain is generally just during the treatment and is tolerable for most people. There may be some discomfort for awhile afterwards, but it is usually not significant. She recommends using heat to alleviate any discomfort and strongly recommended that no anti-inflammatory agents be used, as that will stop all the benefits.

The treatment took about 15-20 minutes. There was some discomfort but nothing significant. Pat started at one level and when it appeared to be too much discomfort so she lowered the frequency.  As my tolerance increased she increased the level. I could feel the vibration of the lazer and occasionally I could feel some pain. The sound of the machine is like rat-a-tat-rat continuously. My instructions were to take it easy for the day, use heat - not ice and do not use any anti- inflammatories. I did not feel any discomfort or benefits. I made another appointment the following week.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

ONE YEAR SINCE STEM CELL TREATMENT

It's hard to believe one year has already passed. I am frustrated with my health. The stem cell treatment worked amazingly well . I still do not have any pain in my right knee. However, I'm starting to feel some tightness and occasional pain in my left knee and hips. I still can bend my left knee - I'm not fearful of falling down stairs (except for my clumsiness). I was feeling healthier than I had been in years - - - until October when my feet gave out. (See previous blog) I'm wondering if I hadn't had problems with my feet, if the pain I'm starting to feel now would have occurred?  It's hard to stay healthy if you don't move around. Many days I do not walk 1,000 steps. My walking is awkward - sometimes limping, sometimes just taking careful steps. I am sure this awkward uneasy steps is impacting my knees and hips. I am very thankful that I did the Stem Cell Treatment. If I had proceeded to a knee replacement, and had the new problems with my fee...
Post a Comment
Read more

Two weeks since.....

It's been two weeks since I had the stem cell injections. Today is the first day for me to start the exercises recommended by the Kinesiologist, perhaps a better description would be stretches. Until today it was recommended that I carry no weight and my only form of exercise was to walk and to walk daily. Back to the stretches, there are 16 different ones. To do all of them in one sitting it would take more than an hour. Most of them are required twice a day. Luckily there are five stretches that are only once daily; but saying that... they are 3 sets of 20 repetitions on each side. A couple stretches are every other day. So.... at least two hours of exercises per day, as well as walking of at least 6000 steps a day. This is more than I can do if I have any other tasks to do beyond going to work. I'm so pleased with the result of the stem cell injections so far. No pain in my ankle or right knees at all. My hips still have some pain but significantly less. My left knee was...
Post a Comment
Read more

Methods of control

My last posting brought you up to 2010. Eventually the swelling went down in my legs, but it took a couple years (yes, years) No reason was ever found. I still get swelling in the evenings or after walking too much, but with Advil, Aleve or something similar it is manageable. The fascia in my feet appeared to heal, but occasionally they still hurt and ache. I do not like to walk even for a short distance without orthotics. My orthotics are thick, full-length and don't fit in nice sandals or dress shoes. I wear runners or motorcycle boots. I have a soft leather ankle dress boot that I can wear with my orthotic, which I do when I have work related meetings. However, I know that I will be in pain after wearing the dress boot - with orthotics - for only a short time. In 2010 or 11, my hips began to hurt. This affected my sleep. The role in fascia is not well understood. Links to rheumatoid arthritis is suspected. Chronic back pain my be linked to fascia thickening. The following quot...
Post a Comment
Read more