Emergency departments in the U.S. see over 20,000 hockey-related injuries every year. Common hockey injuries can range from cuts, scrapes, and bruises to sprains, strains, and broken bones. Musculoskeletal injuries can keep a player off the ice for weeks or months, and many athletes are hesitant to turn to drugs or surgery.
For patients not responding to conservative treatments, shockwave therapy offers a drug-free, non-invasive treatment modality for many common hockey injuries. Using a handheld shockwave therapy device, a healthcare professional can target damaged tissue and bone with acoustic pressure waves, which stimulate cells responsible for healing.
Here are some common hockey injuries shockwave therapy can treat.
Groin Injuries
Groin injuries account for approximately 10% of all injuries for professional hockey players.
A prospective double-blinded controlled study investigated the effectiveness of shockwave therapy in treating athletes with groin pain and aseptic osteitis pubis. Researchers found shockwave therapy significantly reduced pain and enabled athletes to return to play within three months after injury.
Knee Pain
Given all those sharp pivots and changes in direction, knee pain is also common for hockey players.
A study published in Knee Surgery, Sports Traumatology, Arthroscopy assessed whether a single treatment of shockwave therapy was effective in treating chronic patellar tendinopathy. Researchers used the Visual Analogue Scale, the Victoria Institute of Sport Assessment-Patella, and the Roles and Maudsley Score to evaluate success.
Patients showed significant improvements across all scores one month, three months, and 12 months after treatment.
Shoulder Injuries
Body checking, collisions against the boards, and falls to the ice are unavoidable in hockey, which often leads to shoulder injuries over time.
A retrospective study looked at the outcomes of using shockwave therapy to treat shoulder tendinitis or partial tears of the rotator cuff in athletes and non-athletes.
Researchers found shockwave therapy was effective in treating shoulder injuries, and, given its “efficacy and less-invasive nature,” researchers suggested shockwave therapy be used to treat athletes with shoulder injuries “before proceeding to arthroscopic intervention.”
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