From 1990 to 2017 the number of people with chronic low back pain (CLBP) went from 370 million to 570 million. That’s a 60% increase in 27 years!
What Causes CLBP: Ongoing lower back pain causes spasms that damage the lower back muscles. This significantly reduces the ability of muscles to stabilize the spine. Additionally, poor posture in the lower back can lead to fatigue, inflammation, and degeneration of muscle fibers.
CLBP is mainly treated through physical exercise, physiotherapy, drugs, and surgery.
However, physical exercise has shortcomings such as a lack of standard posture and poor adherence; physiotherapy has difficulty achieving long-term pain relief, while drugs may cause nausea, constipation, fatigue, and other side effects.
That is why clinical studies have been done to show that Shockwave Therapy is a great treatment for lower back pain, without negative side effects.
Clinical Study of Shockwave: In a study of 632 patients with CLBP, 318 received shockwave therapy and 314 received physical exercise, physiotherapy, and drugs. Pain scores were measured for each patient at 4 weeks and 12 weeks after the treatments.
The present meta-analysis demonstrated that the ESWT group experienced significantly lower pain scores, and higher quality of life scores, than the other group at 4 weeks AND 12 weeks.
It is also important to note that no side effects were reported in any of the 12 studies conducted.
How Shockwaves Work: When shock waves enter the human body they interact with fat, tendon, ligament, and bone tissue in ways that relax tissues, promote circulation, and increase oxygen levels in cells. Additionally, ESWT promotes the secretion of pain-reducing chemicals that inhibit the release of pain, reduce nerve sensitivity, and increase pain threshold levels.
Conclusion: ESWT is effective in reducing pain and dysfunction in patients with chronic low back pain without increasing the risk of negative reactions.
Source: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10290808/
