Extracorporeal shockwave therapy for plantar fasciitis and other musculoskeletal conditions utilizing the...

Extracorporeal shockwave therapy for treatment of plantar fasciitis and other areas of the body has been well documented since the early 1990s. A high level of efficacy and patient satisfaction after undergoing electrohydraulic shock wave treatments has been reported not only for plantar fasciopathy but other musculoskeletal indications. Electrohydraulic devices have a bimodal response: early suppression of nocioceptor reactivity followed by subsequent target tissue remodeling and healing through neovascularization and recruitment of new tissue target specific cells. Both responses are not present with low energy electromagnetic devices. The focus of this article is treatment of chronic proximal plantar fasciitis; however, other pathologies of the lower extremity demonstrate great promise for this emerging technology.