Any condition that develops in your feet can have a major impact on your life and sideline you from doing the things you love. When it’s a condition like plantar fasciitis, you can throw in some considerable pain.
Each year in the United States, plantar fasciitis accounts for 1 million patient visits, and the condition occurs in about 10% of the population. What each of these plantar fasciitis patients can tell you is that the condition can be very frustrating and painful, making finding an effective solution a top priority.
That solution lies in extracorporeal shock wave therapy (ESWT) for many, and we offer it here at Aesthetic Podiatry & Sports Medicine Center. Both Dr. Mariola Rivera and Dr. Lisa Shah understand the importance of following the science and offering treatments that are evidence-based.
Also known as electroshock therapy, this treatment ticks those boxes, and some more, and we review it here.
With shock wave therapy, we deliver ultrasound energy into damaged tissues. These waves travel through your skin and into the tissues below, where the energy registers as a mild trauma. (Despite the name, the waves are not electrical.)
In response, your body sends in regenerative and healing resources that promote:
In terms of plantar fasciitis, which describes inflammation and small tears in your plantar fascia, the ultrasound energy works to repair those tears and reduce inflammation.
Now we want to outline some benefits of this approach to resolving plantar fasciitis, such as:
Ultrasound energy is noninvasive and travels harmlessly through your tissues. This also means that our patients tolerate the treatment quite well.
The ultrasound energy that we deliver with ESWT therapy can hyperstimulate your nerve endings, which can quiet the pain signaling.
One of the side effects of plantar fasciitis are bone spurs in your heels, which we also call calcifications. Shock wave therapy works to break up these hard tissues.
We’ve seen firsthand how well shock wave therapy works to remedy plantar fasciitis, and our findings have been confirmed in many studies. For example, one study concluded that, “Shock wave therapy was effective in plantar fasciitis treatment according to the proposed protocol, which considered pain, function and quality of life.”
Since we’re encouraging healing from the inside out using your own natural resources, shock wave therapy delivers long-lasting and durable results.
There are more benefits, but we’ll stop here so you can take the next step — coming to see us to explore shock wave therapy for your plantar fasciitis.
To get that ball rolling, please contact us online or by phone at one of our offices in Purchase or White Plains, New York, to schedule an appointment.
