Move Better. Feel Better. Perform Better.
Piezowave 2 Shockwave Therapy
Total Body Health is the first and only clinic in Victoria, BC, to use Piezowave 2 Technology Shockwave Therapy.
What is Shock Wave Therapy?
Shockwave therapy is a fast and effective non-surgical treatment for many acute and especially chronic conditions of the musculoskeletal system.
A shock wave is a strong pressure wave that can be produced by supersonic aircraft, lightning, explosions, or other natural phenomena that create rapid changes in pressure. Shock Wave Therapy has been used in medicine to treat kidney stones for several decades - the first kidney stone disintegrated using shockwave therapy was in 1971! In the early 1980's use of shockwave therapy to treat non-healing bone fractures was discovered. The tissue and cellular effects were becoming well-defined through the mid to late 1980s and it became clear that shockwave therapy could be used to stimulate healing and regeneration of bone, tendon, ligament and many other tissues.
In recent years, the use of extracorporeal shock wave therapy (ESWT) in medicine has been described favourably many times. Success in many orthopedic disorders has been documented in several studies.
Is Shockwave Therapy the right treatment for you?
Shockwave therapy has proven to be effective for the following conditions:
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Epicondylitis (i.e. golfers and tennis elbow)
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Rotator cuff tendinopathy
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Bursitis (including shoulder bursitis and trochanteric bursitis, etc)
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Gluteal and hamstring tendinopathies
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Calcific tendinopathy
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Achilles tendinopathy
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Plantar fasciitis or plantar fasciosis
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Patellar tendinopathy (i.e. Jumper's knee)
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Bone healing
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Shin splints
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Trigger points
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Metatarsalgia and Morton's neuroma
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Scar tissue treatment
There are many benefits of Shockwave Therapy:
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Evidence-based, fast and effective. 3 to 5 treatments are the typical treatment plan.
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Non-surgical intervention for chronic recalcitrant musculoskeletal conditions
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Accelerate and stimulate healing
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No side effects
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Affordable
What's so special about the Piezowave 2 Technology?
Until recently I was under the impression that radial shock wave therapy, the technology more commonly used in Canada, involves the same principle as the shock wave (ESWT) described in the original literature. It does not.
As it turns out, the entire research on the effectiveness and mechanisms of shock wave therapy was originally done using focused shockwave technology - the kind of shock wave generated by piezoelectric technology.
There are several important benefits of a focused SWT using the Piezowave 2 Therapy device:
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Direct focusing piezoelectric technology for minimal pain during treatment
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Well-defined, precise focus – perfect for diagnosis and therapy
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Finely adjustable penetration depth
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Independently adjustable penetration depth and intensity setting
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Trigger points can be diagnosed and specifically treated
The key differences of focused shock wave therapy are derived in the way in which it is delivered. Radial shock waves are generated using mechanical energy from a simple mechanical hammer. The result is the pressure wave first impacts the skin, moving divergently or spreading (not focused) through the body. The maximum effect of radial shock waves is therefore at the surface of the skin, with dissipating levels penetrating into the tissue. Within a penetration depth of 5-10mm, a practically undetectable dosage impacts the tissue. In contrast, focused shock wave therapy delivers the greatest amount of energy into a focused point at a determined depth in the body and penetrates accurately into deep tissue layers (from 5mm to 40mm)
Let me be clear, BOTH forms of shockwave therapy have been proven effective. Shockwave therapy works! And, few studies have directly compared the effectiveness of radial versus focused shockwave therapy. However, the studies that have compared radial vs focused SWT have largely concluded that focused shockwave therapy has an advantage. This, along with the other benefits mentioned above, are the reasons Total Body elected to go with Piezowave 2 as our preferred shockwave technology
