What is shockwave therapy used for?

Shockwave therapy uses focused acoustic pressure waves to restart the healing process in soft tissue that has stopped repairing itself, the kind of chronic injury that physical therapy, cortisone shots, and rest haven’t resolved. At Full Swing Healthcare, Dr. Muren delivers it with the StemWave device in the same visit as chiropractic and soft tissue work, targeting the injury and the mechanical cause together. Most patients complete 4 to 8 weekly sessions and feel meaningful improvement by the second or third.

Why Chronic Injuries Stop Healing

Around six months after a soft tissue injury, your body quietly reclassifies it. The tissue is no longer “acute” in the body’s accounting, so fibroblasts stop showing up, collagen production drops off, and blood vessel growth stalls. The injury doesn’t get worse, it just stays broken. That’s the specific biological problem shockwave therapy solves.

The device sends high-energy acoustic pressure pulses directly into the damaged tissue. At the cellular level, that mechanical stimulus triggers a cascade your body hasn’t run in months: new capillary formation, fibroblast recruitment, stem cell activation, and breakdown of the disorganized calcified deposits that accumulate in chronically injured tendons and fascia. Your body gets the signal that this tissue needs repair, and it responds.

Dr. Muren brought in StemWave because he kept seeing the same patient: six months of pain, multiple rounds of PT, one or two cortisone shots, and a surgeon suggesting it might be time to schedule something. Shockwave changes that conversation.

What a Session Actually Looks Like

Every session starts with an assessment. Shockwave is powerful, and it matters that it’s aimed at the right tissue. Dr. Muren identifies exactly what’s involved, how degenerated it is, and whether there’s a mechanical problem driving the injury, tight calf mechanics pulling on a plantar fascia, a pronation pattern overloading the Achilles, a shoulder mechanics issue feeding rotator cuff degeneration. The shockwave treats the injury; the chiropractic and soft tissue work addresses the cause. Both happen in the same visit.

The treatment itself takes about 10 minutes per site. The applicator moves over the target tissue in a systematic pattern. Most patients describe it as a deep, rhythmic thumping, uncomfortable but tolerable, around a 4 or 5 out of 10. The area often feels sore and more inflamed the day after. That’s not a warning sign; that’s the inflammatory cascade the therapy intentionally triggered. It settles within 24 to 48 hours.

Dr. Muren reassesses after session 3. If the tissue is responding, treatment continues. If it isn’t, the diagnosis or approach changes. We don’t run patients through eight sessions on a hunch.

Conditions Shockwave Treats Well

• Plantar fasciitis: the most common condition we treat with shockwave. The chronic, thickened fascia at the heel that doesn’t respond to stretching, night splints, or cortisone responds dramatically to acoustic waves. Jacksonville’s year-round activity on tile, concrete, and sand means the posterior chain never truly rests, making plantar fasciitis here especially persistent.
• Achilles tendinopathy: both insertional and mid-substance. The midpoint of the Achilles is relatively avascular, which is why it stalls. Shockwave drives new blood vessel growth directly into that zone. For runners and athletes managing Achilles pain for a season or more, this is often what tips the balance when eccentric loading alone isn’t enough.
• Calcific shoulder tendinitis: calcium deposits in the rotator cuff resist cortisone and cause pain with overhead movement. Shockwave mechanically disrupts the deposits through cavitation forces, causing fragmentation the body can then reabsorb. Studies consistently show significant calcium reduction and pain relief at 6 and 12 months.
• Patellar tendinopathy (jumper’s knee): chronic anterior knee pain at the inferior pole of the patella, common in athletes who jump, decelerate, or train on hard surfaces. Combined with appropriate load management, shockwave consistently outperforms rest alone, without taking the athlete out of training entirely.
• Tennis elbow and golfer’s elbow: lateral and medial epicondylitis both involve degenerated collagen at the tendon insertion that hasn’t remodeled. For Jacksonville’s golfers at TPC Sawgrass and Ponte Vedra who have been playing through elbow pain for months, shockwave is often the first treatment that produces lasting change.
• Proximal hamstring tendinopathy: deep buttock pain with sitting and sprinting that’s frequently mistaken for sciatica. Shockwave applied to the hamstring insertion at the ischial tuberosity, combined with progressive loading, is the standard of care in sports medicine for this condition.
• Chronic lower back pain: when paraspinal soft tissue dysfunction isn’t resolving with adjustments alone, shockwave can break the cycle at the tissue level.

Common Questions

Does insurance cover shockwave therapy?

Most plans don’t cover it yet, though coverage is expanding. We check your benefits before your first session and give you exact pricing upfront. See our insurance page for details or our pricing page for current rates.

How is shockwave different from therapeutic ultrasound?

Therapeutic ultrasound uses low-energy waves to generate gentle heat in superficial tissue. Shockwave delivers focused high-energy pressure pulses at a completely different intensity, causing mechanical disruption of degenerated tissue, cavitation forces that break up calcific deposits, and a cellular stress response that triggers real biological repair. Ultrasound is a warming tool. Shockwave is a tissue-remodeling tool.

Can I get shockwave the same day as my chiropractic adjustment?

Yes, and that’s usually the preferred approach. Treating the soft tissue without addressing the mechanical dysfunction that caused it is only half the solution. Dr. Muren handles both in a single visit.