Pain management stands at an intriguing crossroads in a time where health care is increasingly influenced by innovation. As the opioid crisis looms large, casting a worrisome shadow over traditional pain relief methodologies, there’s a growing call for methods that are not only effective but also safe, noninvasive and aligned with the body’s inherent capability to heal. Shockwave technology emerges as an answer, offering holistic pain management solutions that recognize and harness the body’s innate healing mechanisms: healing from above-down, inside-out (the whole ATLAS chiropractic philosophy!!).
The challenges with conventional pain management
Contemporary pain management methods, dominated by medications, injections and surgeries, while effective, come laden with challenges. The opioid crisis provides stark evidence, with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention pinpointing a staggering 75% of drug overdose deaths in 2021 involved opioids. So Sad that the problem is so big that it leads to that statistic.
While less addictive, injections and surgeries present their risks: potential complications, extended recovery times and overwhelming medical costs. What’s more, they often provide only temporary relief without addressing the root causes, merely masking the pain while underlying issues persist.
In this setting, shockwave technology enters the arena as a holistic and revolutionary approach.
Shockwave technology: Harnessing the body’s natural healing potential
Born from technology meant for kidney stone treatments, shockwave therapy has been adapted innovatively for pain relief. This method administers waves of energy into the body, initiating a biological process called mechanotransduction. Fancy word, but FORCES healing to begin in a damaged joint. This not only sparks the body’s inherent repair systems — boosting blood flow, speeding up cellular rejuvenation, activating and recruiting resident stem cells and fostering new blood vessel growth — but also aids in modulating inflammation, a frequent pain source.
Inflammation: The silent adversary
Central to our understanding of pain and its management is the often-underestimated role of inflammation. It’s a double-edged sword — while an essential part of the body’s protective response to injury or harmful stimuli, prolonged inflammation can hinder healing, exacerbating pain and leading to chronic complications. In essence, inflammation becomes a barrier to the body’s inherent healing mechanisms. To truly heal, we need to address and modulate inflammation. When we do this, we accelerate the body’s natural recovery process.
Our shockwave therapy device uses Electrohydraulic shockwaves which is generated using an electric spark in water. For decades, this was used for conditions like kidney stones but has been effectively reimagined for musculoskeletal issues.
Treating the cause
Shockwave technology’s beauty isn’t just in its simplicity and versatility — it also aligns seamlessly with the chiropractic belief in the body’s intrinsic healing capacity. It extends beyond the constraints of chiropractic adjustments to treat the soft tissue after the chiropractic adjustment aligns the spine. If the spine is aligned and the soft tissue supporting the adjustment is healed, there is more stability. A win/win for sure!
An integrative approach
Shockwave therapy, while promising, is not a stand–alone miracle solution. Its efficacy is amplified as part of an overarching, integrative pain management strategy. This holistic viewpoint resonates deeply with the chiropractic tradition, emphasizing the body’s remarkable self-healing abilities.
Embracing a future of natural healing
Health care’s future trajectory points toward a noninvasive, drug-free and holistic approach to pain management, with shockwave technology leading the way. With its long-lasting effects, easy operation and quick treatment times, this is a win-win for all. Shockwave therapy is more than just a treatment. It’s a game-changer, enhancing our holistic principles and offering patients more than just relief — it provides a quicker path to recovery. It’s important to note credible shockwave companies are actively sponsoring studies to demonstrate the effectiveness and safety compared to using opioids. In addition, the research is out there and recent studies are opening minds to new ways.
This innovation marks a new era — one where pain relief is not just about managing symptoms, but also about fostering overall well-being, enhancing quality of life, and — most importantly — doing no harm. The shockwave revolution is here, redefining the contours of therapeutic possibility.
Shockwave is used to treat a variety of conditions, including:
If it is a soft tissue (muscle, tendon, ligament, disc) problem you are experiencing and chiropractic alignment is not correcting all of the pain in your knee, shoulder, feet or wherever-shockwave is your next step. Like chiropractic, it is not going to get fixed overnight in one treatment. We always start with a series of five sessions each one week apart. This encourages a “tear and repair” phenomenon that brings stem cells to the joint to begin the repair process. Although some pain relief happens early on, the healing continues for months after your sessions. The stem cells begin doing their work HEALING the joint and soft tissue surrounding it. You really won’t know the magnitude of how much healing will occur for a few weeks after your series of treatments.
Call our office or go to our website and select
SCHEDULE HERE to set up your first ShockWave session. If you schedule online,
make sure you choose the option for shockwave, not chiropractic as they are completely different schedules. Wear loose clothing that can expose area to be treated or a tank top for the shoulder/shorts for knees. Yes, we can work on knees after a surgery or knee replacements or any replaced joint/surgery for that matter. ShockWave is on ligaments only, not bones or artificial material and ligaments can get tight or harden post-surgery or just with aging, injury or overuse. Pacemakers are not a problem as long as we are not right on the area. We do not work on pregnant ladies, even though ShockWave is considered ok. We do not work with erectile dysfunction even though that may be the first thing that pops up if you google ShockWave. First step with that would be
hormone rejuvenation anyway, which we work with on a regular basis.
The possibilities are endless and Dr. Amy decided to bring this into the office after her husband’s and her own personal experience with shockwave and we would love to show you what it is all about. Please call our office to get your first session set up understanding that your first appointment will be the first in a series of five sessions. All prices are kept up to date on the prices page of our website and worth every dollar. What good is life in pain and this is a more conservative path than surgery. Although you may have several joints that you know may need treatment, only one joint at a time can be treated weekly so all the stem cells FLOOD to that one joint to heal that ONE joint at a time.
Doing more than one joint at a time lessens the stem cells each joint receives and would lessen the objective of healing the joint, so just one at a time!
Just give the stem cells time to do their work and see what your body is capable of!