What is Shockwave Therapy ?

 Indications: 

• Back pain: muscle strains and facet arthritis

• Arthritis: hips, knees, shoulders, elbows, spine

• Tendon healing:

  • Shoulder: Supraspinatous, biceps, medial shoulder strain

  • Ankle: Achilles strain

  • Knee: patellar tendonitis, ACL strain

  • Hips: iliopsoas strain

• Myelopathy of the mid and lower spine: rear limb weakness

What it does: 

• This treatment begins a healing cascade by directing high energy soundwaves into the injured area. The sound waves interact with tissues to improve flexibility, recruit cellular growth, and reduce pain.

• Pain relief may be evident within a week of each treatment. Start rehab exercise the next week and continue x 6 -12 weeks to optimize results! Damaged soft tissues require several months to heal completely, and shockwave can improve the quality of healing and speed the transition to exercise.

• 1-3 treatments every 2-4 weeks depending on our goals and severity of problem. Dogs that benefit from treatment of chronic conditions come every 3-6 months for shockwave.

Medications before and after the procedure: 

• Oral anti-anxiety medications is given at home 3 hours before the shockwave appointment.

• Some patients are sedated to maximize results for tissue flexibility or to combine with joint injections.

• It is a gentle treatment and we give pain medications after therapy to prevent discomfort.

Scheduling: 

• You will need an exam by a doctor certified in Canine Rehabilitation before treatment is performed.

• To include regenerative Medicine options (Joint injections, Stem cell therapy, PRP), a consult will be scheduled with Dr. Bartling so you can discuss the best options for your dog!