How Shockwave Therapy Relieves Chronic Plantar Fasciitis

Plantar Fasciitis is a chronic ailment of the heel. It’s a medical condition where the ligament, that connects your heel bone to your toes, tears. This ligament provides support to the arch of your foot. If it gets hurt, swollen, or if it develops inflammation, then you get a defective walk or unhealthy walking patterns.

Nowadays, patients suffering from this chronic disorder can benefit greatly from shockwave therapy. The treatment is actually known as radial extracorporeal shock wave therapy (ESWT).

It has emerged as an excellent alternative to surgery and is popular because of two reasons:
1. Anesthesia is not required.
2. It does not take too long to recover.

How Shock Therapy Works to Relieve Chronic Plantar Fasciitis

When the connecting ligament in the foot is affected, injured, or torn, the blood supply to the foot is reduced. This results in inflammation, pain, and swelling in the foot. Shockwave therapy helps to stimulate the microtrauma in the affected tissues that triggers a healing response in the body. Ultimately, the blood vessels are repaired/formed inducing better blood flow to the affected foot ligament.

According to several research conducted over the feasibility of ESWT, it has been found that people who underwent this treatment have little problems. It has always been a matter of debate whether ESWT is an effective and reliable substitute of surgery.

There are several pros and cons of this treatment.
Pros:
• It is a non-invasive option
• Very few complications compared to surgical procedure post treatment
• It is less painful

Cons:
• It is quite expensive
• It is done in phases and for every phase you have to pay for it.
• A few people reported to have suffered not-so-major post treatment side effects such as reddening of skin, swelling of foot, slight pain etc.

To prove the effectiveness of ESWT, researchers chose 246 patients in the US for this treatment. These patients were not given local anesthesia or pain meditation during the treatment. After a 12 week follow up consultations it showed significant reduction in the pain levels. There were no safety issues with ESWT but some patients reported swelling and pain after the treatment. Researchers concluded that shockwave therapy in the treatment of plantar fasciitis has success rate between 50 and 65%.

Shockwave therapy could be a feasible option for plantar fasciitis. However the patients must be diagnosed beforehand to ensure the success of the treatment. A prior consultation with a doctor is highly recommended.

Active Chiropractic and Laser Center is based in Tustin, California. We are one of the most reputed and renowned clinics for bone related issues. We treat plantar fasciitis patients with class IV K laser therapy which is considered very effective. We are one of the best in the business and provide excellent diagnosis and counseling to each of our patients.

For more information about this treatment, Please schedule an appointment or  you can call us at: (714) 639- 4640.