ESWT- i'm a guinea pig!

My physio has started to treat people with chronic joint problems using Extracorporeal Shockwave Therapy, i'm having it on my knee free of charge before they decide whether or not to roll it out on a charging basis. The idea is that shock waves emitted from a pneumatic powered hammering probe cause a deliberate tissue inflammation which is acted on by the body's healing processes. During the course of repairing treatment related inflammation, previously unhealable and problematic nasty tissue is repaired too. It's the same effect as infra-patella friction massage but at a higher level.

I've never been a guinea pig before, and i can't see it'll do me any harm- it's well researched. If i can survive smashing my knee into a pool table coin slot then i can survive this.

First session was a walk over. Second session was a bit more rough, the air pressure got turned up a bit, felt it next day. Session 3 on friday.

Session 4 today. Physio says one more session and he wants me to try running on the knee again, apparently the tissue damage around my kneecap has all but disappeared. 2.5yrs of aggro undone in 6 weeks of treatment? we'll see.

Went for a run up Burnsall fell the other day, no knee issues, it's early days though.

Hope the improvment continues Mr B,

All the best

Tahr

Second run yesterday, still no lateral knee problems. I have however picked up a completely new problem due to the new line of movement of my kneecap, Plica Syndrome. The Plica is a medial structure which is supposed to disappear during foetal development but mine is still there and very obvious, it seems to be getting tugged on now as my kneecap moves.

It certainly seems to be the case that Shockwave Therapy is very effective at reversing chronic and degenerative tissue damage, time will tell how permanent this reversal is.

I can second what you've said about ESWT - I've had trouble getting up and down the stairs for a good 9 months with an awful quads tendinosis, absolutely no way of running. Then 4 weeks after 3 sessions of ESWT I'm back to some gentle slow running without pain! Easy does it, but the change is dramatic. Of course it's impossible to say for sure whether it was all the treatment, cause I've been doing loads of strengthening work as well. Then there's 'regression to the mean', or, 'things tend to get better by themselves'. Anyway, as you say it will be interesting to monitor over time.