Many health practitioners such as chiropractors, physiotherapists, massage therapists, veterinarians, and sports medicine specialists have heard of shockwave therapy by now.
Over the years, it has become a popular and ideal treatment method for a variety of injuries and conditions that occur in humans and animals to heal and restore the body’s physical performance.
But did you know two types of shockwave therapy can be administered? These two types are radial shockwave therapy and focused shockwave therapy.
While radial shockwave therapy is the most common type of shockwave therapy used in treating musculoskeletal conditions, focused shockwave therapy is becoming the preferred treatment method for more acute cases that require more precision.
So, what exactly is the difference between radial shockwave therapy and focused shockwave therapy?
Radial shockwaves, also known as soft shocks, are better for larger treatment area of superficial indications. Radial pressure waves uses compressed air to accelerate at a high-speed and the transmitter is used to decelerate the speed.
The radial pressure waves are at the highest intensity and energy density at the transmitter surface and the pressure waves lose power the deeper they enter the body. This makes it a good treatment for when the targeted tissue is superficial such as in plantar fasciitis, tennis elbow, or the Achilles tendon.
The shockwave therapy machines from Storz radial systems offers a variety of transmitters allowing for the treatment of local areas and broad superficial areas to penetrate tissue layers, accelerate the healing process, break up adhesions, and release trigger points.
On the other hand, focused shockwaves, also known as hard shocks, penetrate deeper into the tissues than radial shockwaves to target one specific area. Issues of the tissue close to the bone, calcifications, and non-unions can benefit from focused shockwaves.
Focused shockwaves use a cylindrical coil to generate pressure through the transmitter without losing energy as it penetrates deep into the body’s tissues. The energy dispersed at the site of focused shockwaves is small which limits the damage to the soft tissues.
Determining which type of shockwave therapy is needed for treating your patients is an important part of the diagnosis. Regardless of which type of therapy is needed, Shockwave Canada’s range of Storz shockwave therapy machines can help you.
Contact us today to request a demo by calling 1 (888) 741-SHOC(7462) or visiting https://shockwavecanada.com/.
