Injury can occur from physical exercises such as running and jumping or daily activities such as sitting for long periods, shoveling snow, and lifting heavy objects.

When people get injured, they usually get prescribed pain medication, ice, rest, therapy, and sometimes even surgery to treat the injury.

However, these methods can be invasive and sometimes require a long and complicated recovery with many side effects.

Over the last decade, shockwave therapy has become another method of injury treatment. It relies on sound waves to release trigger points and stimulates the body’s natural healing process.

Shockwave therapy is different from other treatment methods because it’s non-invasive and drug-free. This means patients do not require hospitalization, and the recovery process is easier and relatively pain-free.

But how does shockwave therapy compare in effectiveness with methods such as surgery and physical therapy?

Today, we explore this in detail by looking at the treatment of muscle tissue injuries.

Surgery

In an open-access peer-reviewed chapter of Muscle Injuries in Sports Medicine, a study looked at muscle tissue lesions caused by strains, contusions, and muscle lacerations.

For a complete lesion to the pectoralis major, 90% of early surgical treatment cases achieve significantly better healing results. In addition, surgical treatment resulted in a significant increase in isokinetic torque of the muscle.

However, surgery often results in large scars that can cause complications in the future, such as pain, reduced healing abilities, and lower function and movement.

Surgery can also cause wound infections, anesthesia reactions, blood clotting, and a range of other complications that can result in discomfort for the patient for many years.

Physical Therapy

Physiotherapy uses a combination of strengthening exercises, ice and heat compressions, stretching, and electrotherapeutic devices.

Physical therapy has proven to manage pain to reduce the need for medication, improve mobility and balance, strengthen the body as a preventative measure for future injuries, and more.

In another open-access peer-reviewed chapter of Muscle Injuries in Sports Medicine, physical therapy was analyzed in clinical practice. Insights show that while physical therapy is effective in the long run to treat muscle injuries, recovery is often a lengthy process that might require consistent therapy visits.

Shockwave Therapy

A study published on the US National Library of Medicine looked at chronic muscle injuries and discovered that all eight athletes treated with shockwave therapy returned to their activities after 4 – 16 weeks. The mean was 8.14 weeks after the first session.

Only one patient had a palpable gap at the side of the injury that still showed visible sag after the treatments. However, this did not interfere with the recovered function. In addition, at the end of treatments, all patients showed significant improvement in muscle strength.

As a practitioner, shockwave therapy combines the effectiveness of surgery while reducing the treatment period of physical therapy to deliver fast and successful injury treatment. Contact us today to request a demo by calling 1 (888) 741-SHOC(7462) or visiting https://shockwavecanada.com/.