Extracorporeal Shockwave Therapy (ESWT)/ EPAT.

Extracorporeal Shock Wave Therapy, (or ESWT), is a new technology

using shockwaves totreat chronic, painful conditions of the
musculoskeletal system. A shockwave is anintense, but very short
energy wave traveling faster than the speed of sound. The
word"Extra-corporeal" means "outside the body" and refers to the fact
that the shockwaves aregenerated outside the body.

What is Shockwave Biosurgery?
Extracorporeal shockwave therapy (ESWT) is sometimes alternatively
known as shockwavebiosurgery, though ESWT isn't surgery as the word
is usually defined or understood in North America.

Conditions that can be treated with ESWT?

Extracorporeal Shock Wave Therapy can be used to treat a wide variety
of musculoskeletalconditions-- particularly those involving where major
connective tissues attach to bone.
Complaints involving attachment points for tendons and ligaments in
major joints like theshoulder (such as the rotator cuff), elbow
(epicondylitis or tennis elbow), hip, and knee(tendinitis or jumper's knee)
are common sites for ESWT.
One of the areas most frequently treated with ESWT, however, is the
foot. Conditions wetreat using Extracorporeal Shockwave Therapy
(ESWT) include:
Plantar Fasciitis or Fasciosis (Strained Arch).
Achilles Tendinitis or Tendinosis.
Calcific Tendinitis or Tendinosis.
Connective Tissue Pain and degeneration.
Muscle Pain and Injuries.
Joint Injuries including work injuries and sport injuries.
Morton's Neuromas.

And as ESWT encourages bone healing, it has been used to help

treat:
Stress Fractures.
Avascular Necrosis (A dead portion of bone).
Slow-healing bone (Delayed unions).
Non-healing bone (Non-unions).
There are also urological conditions that respond to ESWT, such
as Peyronie's Disease.

When its advised to use Extracorporeal Shockwave Therapy

(ESWT).
When patient has a diagnosis that is considered to be responsive
to ESWT.
When simpler and less expensive treatment alternatives have
failed or aren't appropriatefor some reason.
When surgery or other more invasive treatments are alternatives.
When there are no known contraindications to the procedure.

When Extracorporeal Shockwave Therapy (ESWT) can not be

used?
ESWT is not typically used in the presence of bone tumours, certain
metabolic boneconditions, and certain nerve or circulation disorders.
ESWT isn't typically used in pregnant patients and locations of an open
growth plate,(where the bone is still growing). It's not currently used in
areas where an infection ispresent, (though there is some early research
suggesting ESWT may actually help withinfection).
It also shouldn't be used in conditions or locations where gas or air is
present in thebody, (rare in the locations where ESWT is typically
used)-- or for other conditions asdetermined by your doctor.

ESWT effectiveness.
The vast majority of recent studies suggest that shockwave is highly
effective. mostrecent independent studies suggest somewhere between
a 65% and a 95% "success" range, withvalues around 80% being the
most commonly cited number. It's important to note that mostof these
studies have success rates as determined by the patient, himself, in
terms ofpain and function.
We find that our results with the highly accurate piezoelectric technology,
are at leastthis successful. The most important factor in getting a good
result with ESWT appears tobe in selecting appropriate patients most
likely to benefit from this technology. However,we can't predict which
patients will respond successfully to ESWT and which ones won't.

How fast does ESWT work?

We find that many patients get an initial degree of improvement almost
immediatelyfollowing treatment. This effect is usually (but not always)
temporary, and is associatedwith an anesthesia effect from the
hyperstimulation of the tissue from the ESWT.
It takes several days for injuries to begin to heal, and many patients see
an improvementbefore the end of the second week. Depending upon
your diagnosis, the healing process maytake several weeks or even
months to be completed, but pain relief often precedes thecompletion of
the healing process.

How safe is ESWT?

The basic technology involved with extracorporeal shockwave
technology has been used fordecades now on quite literally millions of
people. The technology has been used mostextensively in Europe,
particularly the German-speaking countries, where this
technologyoriginates. In all its use, ESWT of the musculoskeletal system
has been found to havevirtually no serious side-effects. In fact, even mild
side effects like tingling, aching,redness, or bruising are relatively rare,
modest and short-lived.
Further, effects like these appear to be more common with higher energy
treatments,particularly those from earlier generations of ESWT
technology than that which we use.We'll discuss more about the different
ESWT technologies below.

How does ESWT work?

During EPAT therapy thousands of tiny acoustic sound waves are
painlessly applied to thearea of injury. The application of acoustic waves
creates micro-ruptures in thecapillaries of the tendon and bone and
significantly increase the body's response to sendhealing cells to the
area.
The new cells improve the blood supply and the oxygenation resulting in
expedited healingof the injury. This is the same technology that has
been used in recent years to break upkidney stones without surgery and
is now being applied to those with chronic pain andinjuries.
This treatment is performed on an outpatient basis and requires no
anesthesia.
Visit our website https://nydnrehab.com/treatment-methods/shockwave/
to make an appointment today.