Experience Fast and Long-Lasting Pain Relief!
Shockwave Therapy Thunder Bay
Shockwave therapy (sometimes called extracorporeal shockwave therapy or ESWT for short) is a non-invasive option often used to treat both acute and chronic pain without the need for medication or surgery.
The type of shockwave therapy used here at Fanti + Associates Physiotherapists is very safe and it’s designed to trigger your body’s own natural healing response to reduce pain associated with a long list of different musculoskeletal problems.
For many physiotherapy patients, our shockwave treatment can produce pain-relieving results in as little as one to three sessions.
Shockwave Therapy in Thunder Bay
Shockwave therapy has been available in Canada since the mid-’90s and has been a popular health care treatment option ever since. Considered an advanced treatment method, a machine creates shockwaves that a trained physiotherapist directs at an affected area.
Most people imagine that shockwaves are electrical shocks, but they are actually made by sound waves. It uses the same technology as an ultrasound machine, just more intense. The machine is connected to an applicator head that comes in a variety of shapes and sizes that can be switched out to suit the size of the treatment area.
A gel is applied to the treatment area and the physiotherapist begins gliding the applicator head back and forth over the area where the gel was applied. The gel is cold and the applicator is metal just like an ultrasound. The machine itself is much louder than an ultrasound so try not to be alarmed by the sound.
What Conditions Can Be Treated With Shockwave Therapy treatment?
The good news is that many conditions can be treated or improved with shockwave therapy. An experienced physiotherapist will be able to determine whether or not shockwave therapy is a good option for you and also which type of shock wave therapy would be most beneficial to you.
The following is a list of some of the conditions that may be healed by these therapies:
- Plantar Fasciitis Pain
- Heel spurs
- Calcific Tendonitis
- Patellar Tendonitis (Jumper’s Knee)
- Achilles Tendonitis
- Myofascial muscular trigger points
- Bursitis
- Biceps Tendonitis
- Shin Splints
- Iliotibial band friction syndrome
- Lumbar and cervical spine pain
- Lateral Epicondylitis (Tennis Elbow)
- Medial Epicondylitis (Golfer’s Elbow)
- Chronic pain
How Does Shockwave Therapy Work?
There are multiple ways the shockwaves can help reduce pain and promote healing. They can be used to break down build-ups of calcification. These buildups of calcification are similar to what happens when people get kidney stones, but these occur in the muscular tissue instead.
Another way that shockwaves function in healing is by stimulating tissue and bone cells to intentionally trigger an inflammatory response in them. By triggering this inflammatory response, we are basically stimulating the body to heal itself.
If you are looking for shockwave therapy in Thunder Bay, consider Fanti + Associates Physiotherapists. We help move you away from pain and back to living again. For over 20 years, we’ve helped the residents of Thunder Bay get back to enjoying life. We would love the opportunity to do the same for you! All of our physiotherapists are experienced with shockwave therapy and registered with the College of physiotherapists of Ontario.
Give us a call today to learn more about this effective treatment method or schedule an appointment for access to treatment plans.
Frequently Asked Questions About Shockwave Therapy
Temporary side effects you might expect to see from extracorporeal shock wave therapy may include mild bruising, swelling, pain, numbness, or tingling in the treated area. These resolve within 1-3 days. These side effects can be more serious in certain patients and should not be used in patients with a circulation or nerve disorder, infection, open wound, tumor, or a metabolic bone condition. Shockwave therapy should also not be performed on pregnant women.
During treatment, most people find that the treatment causes mild discomfort at most and you may ask your therapist to adjust the intensity if you find it intolerable. Soreness, tenderness of the soft tissue, and swelling may be experienced for a few days following the procedure due to the inflammatory response. It’s important to not take any anti-inflammatory medications (like ibuprofen for example) for this discomfort as the inflammatory response is the key factor in getting your body to heal itself.
After treatment, you should be able to return to your usual activities almost immediately.
Since shockwave therapy stimulates the healing process, the length of time and the number of treatments needed to see a noticeable improvement varies on a case-by-case basis. A young person with a very mild injury may only need 1 or 2 treatments and will notice results right away. Most individuals require between 3 to 5 treatments. Immediately after each treatment, you will notice a short-term reduction in pain as the nerve endings have been overstimulated. There is virtually no downtime or recovery time needed. Results vary between 70-90% success when incorporated with the proper exercise program.
Shockwave physiotherapy treatments are manual therapy and are usually done once a week for somewhere between 3 and 6 weeks, but this will vary depending on individual results and the severity of each case.
Most insurance companies do cover ESWT when billed as a physiotherapy session.
We are very transparent with our rates! Our shockwave therapy treatments include an assessment at $90, then subsequent treatments at $100 (X3-5 sessions usually). Post-therapy follow-up $60. Total $450-650 approximately, depending on your condition.
If you are looking for shockwave therapy in Thunder Bay, consider Fanti + Associates Physiotherapists. We help move you away from pain and back to living again. For over 20 years, we’ve helped the residents of Thunder Bay get back to enjoying life. We would love the opportunity to do the same for you! All of our physiotherapists are experienced with shockwave therapy and registered with the College of physiotherapists of Ontario.
Give us a call today to learn more about this effective treatment method or schedule an appointment for access to treatment.
Request Appointment
Fanti & Associates Physiotherapists
Address: 678 John St, Thunder Bay, ON P7B 1Z6