Shockwave Therapy Offered in Ottawa

Do you suffer from chronic pain that affects your tendons, ligaments, muscles or bones? You should seriously consider shockwave therapy, offered at Ottawa-Carleton Physiotherapy & Sports Injury Center. Quite a recent technology, shockwave therapy uses Radial Pressure Wave, or RPW, to treat various conditions:

How Does Shockwave Therapy Work?

The powerful and brief mechanical— so, not electrical— energy surges sent through soft-tissues at fast, regular intervals have various effects, notably on the blood, cell, nerves and muscle levels. The natural ability of the body to heal is thereby stimulated. Shockwave therapy is used to cause separation in adhesive or scarred tissue, abate muscular spams and diminish pain.

More precisely, shockwave therapy enhances vascularisation, essential in the healing process, in localised areas to boost the regeneration of the soft-tissue. It also influences the tissues’ cells, making the free radicals release the substance that prevents pain and inflammation. On the muscular level, this treatment helps decrease the contraction in muscles, either tone or spasm, in order to remove knots. Shockwave therapy also positively affects the neurocognitive response to long-lasting pain by acting on the nerves to avoid the transmission of pain stimuli to the central nervous system.

What to Expect from a Shockwave Treatment Session?

After making sure shockwave therapy is adapted to your situation and state of health, the physiotherapist will proceed to the treatment session that lasts between 3 and 5 minutes. You might feel a slight discomfort at the beginning, but this sensation usually fades away rapidly, since shockwave therapy numbs the treated area. Besides, the intensity will be adjusted by your therapist to reduce your discomfort. However, this therapy also consists in provoking an inflammation in soft tissue, which is part of the healing process. It is not recommended to apply any cold treatment on the area or to take anti-inflammatory medicine. 3 to 5 sessions are the minimum necessary, depending on the severity of your medical condition, with one week between each. Patients generally observe improvement after the first 3 sessions.

How Successful is Shockwave Therapy?

The success rate of this treatment being almost 90%, as consistently proven by research, it is with great pleasure that our physiotherapy clinic offers shockwave therapy to patients in Ottawa. This approach can also be efficiently combined with traditional physiotherapy treatments, as it facilitates and accelerates the recovery period.

Would you like to know if shockwave therapy is right for you? Contact us at the Ottawa-Carleton Physiotherapy & Sports Injury Center! We will be happy to schedule your next appointment.