Is Shockwave Therapy Painful?

Shockwave therapy can cause mild discomfort during the session, but most patients describe it as tolerable and many find it less uncomfortable than they expected.

The sensation during treatment is a pulsing pressure in the targeted tissue. The feeling is similar to someone tapping firmly on a bruised area. In tissues with serious inflammation or chronic injury, it can feel more intense at the start of the first session. Dr. Muren adjusts the intensity based on your feedback in real time throughout the treatment. Sessions begin at lower intensity and increase as your tissue adjusts to the stimulus. The goal is to deliver effective therapeutic energy without making the experience harder than it needs to be.

Full Swing Healthcare uses the StemWave system, which delivers extracorporeal acoustic wave therapy, a form of unfocused radial shockwave. StemWave's technology maximizes tissue penetration while keeping the surface sensation manageable. The protocol used is based on the condition being treated and the tissue depth involved. Plantar fasciitis, for example, is treated at settings that deliver waves into the heel and plantar fascia without excessive surface discomfort.

Sessions run 10 to 15 minutes on the treatment area. After the session, some patients experience mild soreness in the treated tissue for 24 to 48 hours. That soreness is a normal and expected part of the healing response. The acoustic waves stimulate an inflammatory cascade in tissue that has gone chronically non-healing, and the soreness is your body doing exactly what was triggered. This is different from the kind of soreness that signals injury. It's a therapeutic response.

By the third or fourth session, most patients report that both the treatment discomfort and the post-session soreness have decreased noticeably as the tissue heals and the underlying condition improves. Progress is assessed before each session and treatment parameters are adjusted accordingly. The typical course is three to six sessions spaced about a week apart.

For patients dealing with conditions like plantar fasciitis that have been worsened by Florida's warm climate and year-round activity demands on the feet, the short-term discomfort of shockwave sessions compares favorably to continuing to manage chronic heel pain every morning or considering cortisone injections, which can weaken tendon tissue over time. Shockwave promotes actual tissue repair rather than masking pain.

If you've been told shockwave might help your condition and you're wondering whether you can handle it, the honest answer is that most people can. Call (904) 539-3352 or book online to discuss whether Shockwave Therapy is appropriate for your specific condition.

Patients sometimes confuse shockwave therapy with TENS or ultrasound. TENS uses electrical current to modulate pain signals. Ultrasound uses sound waves for heating and mild tissue stimulation. Shockwave therapy, meaning extracorporeal acoustic wave therapy as delivered by the StemWave device, generates mechanical pressure pulses that trigger a biological response at the cellular level: fibroblast activation, new capillary formation, and breakdown of calcified tissue in chronically injured tendons and fascia. The discomfort during treatment comes from that mechanical stimulus, not from electrical current or heat.

Contraindications for shockwave therapy include active infection at the treatment site, bleeding disorders, anticoagulant medication, open wounds, and treatment over growth plates in skeletally immature patients. Pregnancy is also a contraindication for treatment over the lumbar spine or abdomen. Dr. Muren reviews your health history before the first session to confirm there are no contraindications. If you are on blood thinners or have other health conditions you are unsure about, bring them up at the consultation and we will tell you whether shockwave is appropriate.