Focused acoustic pulses
Gymna Shockwave
Shockwave therapy: focused acoustic pulses for the problems that have not shifted with anything else.
Shockwave therapy delivers high-energy acoustic pulses into tissue through a handpiece pressed against the skin. The Gymna ShockMaster used here is a radial system, which spreads the energy through a treatment area rather than concentrating it at a single fixed depth.
The intended effect is to provoke a repair response in tissue that has stalled. Chronic tendon problems in particular have a habit of settling into a state where they neither heal nor get dramatically worse. The pulses stimulate local blood flow and cellular activity in a way that is meant to restart that process.
It is more uncomfortable than the other therapies here. Most people describe it as a deep, tolerable, strong tapping, and the intensity is adjusted to what you can handle rather than fixed in advance. It is normally reserved for stubborn problems rather than offered first.
Considering Gymna Shockwave?
Speak to the clinic about suitability and your first appointment.
Enquire about treatment Call 01903 234490What we use it for
- Plantar fasciitis and persistent heel pain
- Tennis and golfer's elbow
- Achilles and patellar tendinopathy
- Shoulder tendon problems including calcific tendinitis
- Chronic soft-tissue pain that has not responded to other care
What a session involves
Treatment is short, usually a few minutes over the affected area. Mild soreness for a day or two afterwards is common and expected rather than a sign something has gone wrong.
What the evidence says
Shockwave has the strongest evidence base of the technology bench here. It is recommended by NICE for a number of chronic tendon conditions, including plantar fasciitis and refractory tennis elbow, and is well established in sports medicine for exactly these stubborn presentations.
Who it is not for
Not used over open growth plates in children, during pregnancy, over active infection or malignancy, or for anyone on anticoagulant medication or with a clotting disorder. Recent cortisone injection into the same site also needs declaring, as it changes the timing.
Whether this is the right treatment is decided at your examination.
