Not receiving soft tissue pain relief? Try SoftWave
By Deborah Jeanne Sergeant
Lower back pain, neck pain, sciatica, tendonitis, plantar fasciitis, arthritis and joint injuries are all tough to manage non-invasively and without medication.
That’s why Chance Lowry, owner of Northeast Pain Solutions, is so excited about shockwave therapy.
His facilities in Rochester, Canandaigua and Geneva offer SoftWave Therapy, a form of shockwave therapy that uses sound waves to stimulate healing in damaged tissues.
These sound pulses use high positive pressure with a fast and steep rise time followed by comparatively small negative pressure.
Lowry explained that the therapy modulates inflammation, creates a localized stem cell response to increase the repair efforts, stimulates blood flow at the injury site and breaks up scar tissues in cases with chronic injuries.
The benefits include pain relief, anti-inflammatory response, antibacterial effects, improved blood flow, tissue growth and regeneration, stem cell activation and tissue generation.
“This has completely changed the way we practiced,” Lowry said. “We can help a lot of injuries that were difficult to work with like tendonitis. It’s hard to conservatively work with these, but our success rate is through the roof.”
Northeast Pain Solutions has expanded to three offices because of the therapy.
He said that originally, the therapy was used for nonunion bone fractures and then providers began using it with soft tissue issues.
“We don’t use it for that as we’re not an orthopedic office,” he added. “For tendon and ligament injuries, they’re poorly vascularized so they heal poorly. There’s lack of blood supply. This increases blood supply by 400% so tissues heal on a biological level. It’s not just reducing pain but it regenerates tissue. A lot of things in the medical world have claims but not patents to back it up. These patents are very well accepted.”
Some providers use soundwave therapy in urology to treat kidney stones and erectile dysfunction. It’s also used for wound care and women’s urologic and sexual health at other providers. Lowry said that in Europe, providers use it to promote healing after cardiac surgery and for spinal cord injuries.
Lowry uses SoftWave to promote healing with soft tissues like ligaments and tendons.
The therapy is not covered by insurance. It may take four to eight sessions to treat an area and cost $50 to $100 per session, depending upon its size. Most patients receive a degree of immediate pain relief, about 30-40%. Within four to eight treatments, many receive 70 to 100% pain reduction.
“I’m a skeptic as an individual because most things in medicine are overplayed,” Lowry said. “This is phenomenal.”