Often called degenerative joint disease, osteoarthritis is the most common form of arthritis. With osteoarthritis, a joint’s cartilage breaks down causing the bones to rub together, resulting in pain, stiffness, swelling, and decreased function.
Osteoarthritis affects nearly 33 million US adults; knee osteoarthritis accounts for more than 80% of that number. People suffering from bone-on-bone knee pain often can longer work or perform daily tasks.
While there is no cure for osteoarthritis, shockwave therapy offers patients bone-on-bone knee pain relief without the need for drugs or surgery. Here’s how.
Shockwave Therapy for Bone-on-Bone Knee Pain Relief
Shockwave therapy delivers acoustic pressure waves to an affected area over short periods of time to enhance blood flood and metabolism. This stimulates cells in the body that are responsible for bone and connective tissue healing.
Healthcare practitioners can thus use shockwave technology to boost a patient’s natural healing processes, which is a welcome alternative to invasive options like arthroscopy, cartilage repair, osteotomy, and knee arthroplasty where recovery can take weeks to months.
Clinical Evidence for Shockwave Therapy
Shockwave therapy is clinically proven to provide bone-on-bone knee pain relief.
In a study published in the Journal of Physical Therapy Science, researchers assessed the effectiveness of using shockwave therapy to treat patients with knee osteoarthritis.
Twenty patients were divided into two groups. The control group was treated using only physical therapy, while the study group received shockwave therapy in addition to physical therapy. Both groups were treated three times a week over four weeks.
Researchers used the visual analog scale (VAS) to measure pain. And to measure function they used the Korean Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Osteoarthritis Index (K-WOMAC).
Researchers noted that the shockwave therapy group showed significantly greater improvements in both scores. Shockwave therapy is therefore an effective nonsurgical intervention for reducing pain and improving function for patients with knee osteoarthritis.
MedicalWave provides the best equipment, service, and marketing support in the industry to leading healthcare professionals. Practitioners from a wide variety of medical disciplines leverage our devices including chiropractors, podiatrists, physios, orthopedic surgeons, and more.
Want to learn how to integrate shockwave therapy into your practice? Call (844) 636-9283 or visit our website today.