Shockwave Therapy for Sports Injuries: Non-Surgical and Effective Pain Relief

Sports injuries can really set you back, affecting your performance and life quality. Luckily, shockwave therapy for sports injuries is a non-surgical option that works well. It's not only effective but also gentle on the body. This treatment helps with soft tissue injuries, speeds up healing, and cuts down inflammation.

Imagine being sidelined from your favorite sport, unable to enjoy the activities you love because of nagging knee pain. Every step is a reminder of your injury, and the thought of invasive surgery looms large. What if there was a non-surgical solution that could not only relieve your pain but also accelerate your body’s healing process? Shockwave therapy is rapidly becoming the go-to option for athletes and active individuals who want to reclaim their mobility and performance without the downtime of surgery.

Knee pain from sports injuries can feel like a dead end, especially when traditional treatments like rest, physical therapy, or medication only offer temporary relief. But what if the key to lasting recovery lay in advanced technology that works with your body to repair and rejuvenate? Shockwave therapy uses high-energy acoustic waves to stimulate your body’s natural healing mechanisms, promoting tissue repair, reducing inflammation, and targeting the root cause of your pain. It’s a revolutionary approach that doesn’t just mask symptoms—it resolves them.

For athletes and active individuals, the stakes are high. Losing time to injury can mean falling behind in training or missing out on the activities that define your lifestyle. Shockwave therapy offers a beacon of hope—a cutting-edge, non-invasive treatment that delivers results quickly and effectively. If you’ve been searching for a solution to your knee pain, this might just be the breakthrough you’ve been waiting for. Could this game-changing therapy be the answer you’ve been seeking? Let’s dive in and explore how shockwave therapy for sports injuries can get you off the sidelines and back to being active and pain free. 

Key Takeaways

  • Shockwave therapy is effective for treating soft tissue injuries, connective tissue injuries such as ligaments, tendons, muscles and cartilage. 

  • It can address muscle sprains, ligament or tendon tears, and conditions like plantar fasciitis, knee pain, frozen shoulder and tennis elbow.

  • This therapy increases circulation in injured tissues, aiding in faster healing, reduction in pain and inflammation. 

  • It helps reduce inflammation, crucial for sports injury recovery, many sports injuries become chronic and do not heal properly because of too much inflammation. 

  • Shockwave therapy can reduce or eliminate the need for prescription painkillers.  When there is a sprain or strain injury, it can be easy to get hooked on pain medicine like opioids.  Medical doctors and the American Medical Association are working hard to prevent people getting addicted to pain medicine.  Dr. Hamel of Kingwood Chiropractic Spine and Injury Center, says that these patients suffering from whiplash injuries or sports injuries get addicted to pain medication and they never, ever recover; it is very sad. 

  • The approach can enhance therapeutic exercise programs, leading to quicker recovery.  The facts are that ligament and tendon injuries take every bit of 6-8 weeks to heal, this is because it takes the body this long to lay down new collagen fibers.  Most patients are not healthy enough to get maximal healing in 6-8 weeks, this is where shockwave therapy comes in; it enhances the body's ability to heal and repair.

  • Up to 90% of patients experience significant pain relief from bone and joint-related injuries, including stress fractures and plantar fasciitis, with shockwave therapy.  Dr. Hamel of Kingwood Chiropractic Spine and Injury Center has been using shockwave therapy on his patients for over 2 years with massive success in rotator cuff tendinitis, frozen shoulder, tennis elbow, knee injuries, and Achilles tendinitis. Some patients have bone on bone knee pain and they are looking to hold off getting surgery for a year or two, other patients are looking to get their knee or back pain fixed so they can go back to golf, cross-fit or playing pickleball tournaments. 

What is Shockwave Therapy and How Does it Work?

Shockwave therapy is a non-invasive treatment for injuries, sprains, strains and arthritic conditions. It uses acoustic sound waves to help damaged tissues heal. These sound waves, or shockwaves, enhance the body's healing process by increasing circulation to the injured tissues. 

Understanding Shockwave Therapy

Shockwave therapy uses special equipment to create high-energy sound waves. These waves can go deep into tissues, up to 6 cm. This is better than other methods like massage or devices you can use at home.  It targets specific areas, treating many conditions without the use of medication or surgery. There are not many shockwave therapy providers in the Houston area so you will have to search online to find one close to you. Why shockwave therapy is so amazing is that anyone can go, you don't need a referral from a medical doctor.  Shockwave therapy is done in an office, usually a chiropractor or sports medicine doctor, the treatment doesn't take very long and you can walk out of the office and get back to work or running errands right after.  There is no downtime after a shockwave therapy session; Dr. Hamel, of Kingwood Chiropractic Spine and Injury Center, says all he tells his patients is to not irritate the injured area, don't do anything to interrupt the healing.  

Mechanism of Action

To understand how shockwave therapy works, it's key. The therapy's waves can move fast, up to 62 mph. They help cells and tissues repair quickly by making small holes in them.  For nonunion fractures, these holes help a blood clot form. This clot aids in healing. The therapy's benefits come from its focused energy and radial waves for both deep and surface injuries.  Most patients are coming in for tendinitis type of injuries, says Dr. Hamel, not too many for fracture healing. 

Treatment sessions last 8-12 minutes, with about 500 pulses. Most people feel better right after the treatment and with each successive session more healing occurs. They might need 8-10 sessions over 6 to 12 weeks to fully recover. Some discomfort is expected, but it goes away quickly.

Shockwave Therapy for Sports Injuries

Shockwave therapy is becoming more popular among athletes and sports doctors. It's a non-invasive way to treat sports injuries. Let's explore the types of injuries it can help with, its benefits, and how fast you can recover.  Dr. Hamel breaks down injuries into 3 categories, these are primary, secondary and tertiary.  

  1. Primary Type 1- these are sprains and strains that cause and increased, sudden stretch in the fibers.  This could happen in cross fit, or lunging in pickleball, hitting a smash in tennis or even lifting a couch or heavy table.  Primary sprains and strains heal pretty quickly, with the right therapy such as shockwave, chiropractic care and physical therapy a patient can recover 80-90% from their injury or maybe even more.

  2. Secondary Type 2- these sprains and strains actually cause some tearing in the fibers of the tendon, ligament or muscle.  This may sound bad but it is very common in sports such as swimming, baseball, football, tennis, pickleball, running, cross-fit or sprinting.  Any sport that requires repetitive overuse motions can eventually lead to small tears in the connective tissue.  These injuries take a little longer to heal, give it at least 6-8 weeks if you are getting the right kind of treatment and you are letting it heal and repair by resting. Remember that tearing is a connective tissue will never heal 100%, scar tissue comes in to heal and it contains collagen and fibroblasts, but no elastin.  Those might seem like big words, but the just of it, is that we are unable to produce elastin after an injury; elastin helps with flexibility.  This may sound unfair but it is OK, you can still rehabilitate an injured knee, shoulder, elbow or foot and have no limitations.  There are many athletes, college and professional, who have little tears from injuries, you might be surprised to know that very successful athletes in football, basketball, tennis and baseball have injuries that will never heal 100%, but they are still amazing athletes and get paid millions of dollars a year. 

  3. Tertiary Type 3- these injuries are most severe, and result in a full or complete tear.  You can see this with an Achilles tendon rupture, a rotator cuff tear, a meniscus tear, a severe ankle sprain, a biceps tendon tear, an ACL tear in the knee, a tear in the disc of the cervical or lumbar spine, or plantar fascia tear.  Inevitably, these injuries require surgery.  Commonly, if the athlete does the proper rehab, meaning post-surgical PT, chiropractic, shockwave therapy, massage and corrective exercises; they can be back playing in 6-8 months. 

Common Sports Injuries Treated

Shockwave therapy can help with many sports injuries. It's good for tendinopathies and muscle strains. Specifically injured athletes with these conditions seek out a shockwave therapy provider: rotator cuff tendinitis, tennis elbow, golfer’s elbow, knee meniscus tears, Achille tendinitis, and plantar fasciitis. These injuries often happen during intense training or competitions. They are more common during pre-season and games.

Commonly treated injuries include:

  • Plantar fasciitis

  • Achilles tendonitis

  • IT band syndrome

  • Rotator cuff injuries

  • Hamstring and quad strains

  • Jumpers knee

Benefits of Shockwave Therapy

One big plus of shockwave therapy is that it is non-invasive and can help you recover quickly. It brings extra blood and healing cells into muscles to help them heal, become more flexible and stronger in just 6-8 weeks and 8-10 sessions. It is one of the few natural therapies that helps grow new tissue and improve blood flow.  This therapy is safe and doesn't keep you from doing things you love. The only side effect to the treatment, if you can call it one, is that sound wave stimulates healing of the injured tissues, this can be a little uncomfortable for the patient.  After the treatment the patient may have some redness or bruising in the area but it goes away quickly within 1-2 days.  

Effectiveness and Recovery Time

Many studies show shockwave therapy works well. It can make recovery times much shorter and that is what every athlete is looking for. For example, football players with groin pain got back to playing 73.2 days sooner than those not using it.  It also helps reduce pain and getting athletes back to workouts and normal daily activities. Most patients, says Dr. Hamel, Kingwood shockwave therapy provider, feel a difference after their first shockwave therapy treatment.  It does a really good job at improving blood flow to the injured area and removing inflammation.  This is why patients with shoulder pain or heal pain can see improved range of motion and less pain after just one treatment.   A study found athletes with medial tibial stress syndrome recovered faster with shockwave therapy. They got better in 24 to 48 hours after the first treatment.  With most injuries and recovery; it is very important to start getting shockwave therapy immediately once the swelling has gone down.  As long as your injuries are type 1 or 2 you can start getting shockwave therapy immediately; type 3 injuries usually require surgery and can make shockwave therapy part of their rehabilitation. 

Shockwave therapy is a great alternative to taking strong, prescription medication or surgery. It helps you recover quickly and safely. It's a top choice for many athletes, both professional and amateur.  Due to the high demand, there are many doctors offering shockwave therapy in their office; these are usually chiropractors and sports medicine doctors so search your local area to see who is offering this technology. 

Conclusion

Shockwave therapy is a non-surgical way to treat many sports injuries, tendinitis and osteoarthritis.  It works well for plantar fasciitis, frozen shoulder and tennis elbow. Studies show it helps injuries heal faster by improving blood flow and stimulating collagen production.  It helps people and athletes recover quickly and get back to sports sooner. Most patients feel better in just a few sessions.  Many patients are pain-free and playing again in six to eight weeks.  This is faster than old treatments such as ultrasound, physical therapy, pain management or minor surgery.  Shockwave therapy also has few side effects, like some redness and pain where it's applied, this happens rarely and often goes away within 1-2 days. 

Shockwave therapy has proven to be effective with injuries, like Achilles tendonitis, plantar fasciitis and stress fractures. For athletes wanting to recover quicker and get back to their sport; shockwave therapy is becoming the go to therapy amongst chiropractors and sports medicine doctors.

FAQ

What is shockwave therapy?

Shockwave therapy is a non-invasive treatment. It uses acoustic waves to help heal targeted areas such as injured tendons, ligaments, muscles and joints.  It's great for sports injuries and offers a pain relief option without risking pain medicine or surgery.

How does shockwave therapy work?

It works by sending high-energy sound waves to injured areas. This boosts blood flow and speeds up healing. The shockwaves actually irritate the damaged tissue, causing a healing response by the body.  Boosting blood flow send in healing cells and growth factor into the injured tissues to promote collagen production and healing. 

What are the common sports injuries treated with shockwave therapy?

It treats many sports injuries, like tendonitis and plantar fasciitis. It's also good for stress fractures, tennis elbow, and Achilles tendinopathy.  Most athletes coming into our office, says Dr. Hamel, are coming in with knee pain, rotator cuff syndrome, and plantar fasciitis.  The most common athletes coming in for shockwave therapy are golfers, tennis players, cross-fit, baseball, swimmers, pickleball players and runners.  Any sport where there is cumulative wear and tear, there is likely to be injuries. 

What are the benefits of using shockwave therapy for sports injuries?

Benefits include faster recovery, non-surgical pain relief, and better mobility. It's perfect for athletes wanting to return to their sport.  Most people who are used to working out or playing a sport, who can no longer do it because of injury, are miserable.  Shockwave therapy provides a non-surgical solution to get these folks pain free and enjoying their sport again.  A pain free athlete is a happy person, we strive to produce this in our office every day says Dr. Hamel of Kingwood Chiropractic Spine and Injury Center.  

How effective is shockwave therapy for sports injury recovery?

It's very effective for recovery. Many patients see big pain reductions and function improvements after a few sessions. It's a top choice for sports injury rehab.  It is ideal, says Dr. Hamel, to combine shockwave therapy will other treatments to optimize healing.  He recommends taking nutritional supplements, using chiropractic care, massage and even acupuncture to help stimulate healing. 

What is the typical recovery time with shockwave therapy?

Recovery time varies with injury severity. But many see improvements in 6-8 weeks. Full recovery might take months, but you'll notice pain reduction and better function sooner.  It does depend on the patient coming in for treatment says Dr. Hamel; some patients are high level athletes trying to get healthy to compete in their next tournament while other patients want to be pain free to garden or walk their dog.  Remember sprains and strains, whether in the knee, shoulder, hip or ankle take around 6-8 weeks to heal, because it takes that long for collagen to be laid down. 

Are there any advantages to choosing shockwave therapy over other treatments?

Yes, it's non-invasive and drug-free. It has few side effects, making it safe and effective for long-term pain relief and sports injury rehab.  The great thing about shockwave therapy is that it is literally impossible to make your injury worse. Most of our injured athletes are seeing improvements in their injuries after 1-3 sessions, if they are not seeing any improvement after 3 shockwave therapy treatments it probably is not going to help them. You don't know how many injured patients we see, says Dr. Hamel, that have had 6 months of physical therapy, or Cortisone shots or minor surgery and they are not any better.  With shockwave therapy, the doctor and patient realize very quickly if it is going to be beneficial. 

What is the average cost for shockwave therapy treatment?

The average cost for shockwave therapy per session in the greater Houston area is $150-$175, most shockwave therapy providers offer discounts if you buy packages of visits; just like other therapies such as ozone, PRP, cold laser therapy and acupuncture. 

Is Shockwave therapy treatment expensive compared with other medical treatments?

Shockwave therapy is very affordable compared with other medical or even non-surgical treatments for sports injuries. Worse case scenarios for knee or hip replacement it may cost $30,000-$40,000 and if you have insurance, you may only have to pay $6000-$8000.  Cortisone shots can cost up to $300 per injection.  For 3 months of physical therapy, 3X per week it can cost $3000-$4000.  A PRP injection can cost up to $900 per injection, they recommend a course of 3.  Stem cell therapy can cost up to $5000 per injection.  Months or years of opioid medicine, other pain medicine and muscle relaxers may be the cheapest alternative but this type of medicine cannot heal and repair your injuries.  The top shockwave therapy units from StemWave or SoftWave cost between $50000-$60000 for a doctor to purchase.  Shockwave therapy providers can offer treatment at a fair cost because they don't have to worry about insurance, being in a hospital, needing anesthesia or multiple doctors.

Are there any reasons or conditions that are contraindicated for shockwave therapy?

Yes, there are certain medical conditions such as cancer, an active tumor, late-stage diabetes, patient having a pacemaker, that would preclude a patient from getting shockwave therapy.  Other health conditions that slow down healing can also be a reason not to get shockwave therapy such as auto-immune conditions, diabetes, a compromised immune system, a patient who smokes.  Patients should not get shockwave therapy if they are taking high doses of anti-inflammatory medications or if they had a Cortisone shot within the last 30 days.  If you have a serious health condition and you are under a doctor’s supervision; always ask your doctor if there are any contraindications to getting shockwave therapy. 

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