Shockwave therapy offers new hope for patients with chronic pain and sports injuries

Dr. Derrick Eddy, director of Sports Medicine, is now offering shockwave therapy to help patients dealing with chronic tendon or muscle pain.

For patients sidelined by stubborn tendon or muscle pain, Akron Children’s now offers a promising new path to relief. Extracorporeal Shockwave Therapy (ESWT), commonly known as shockwave therapy, is now available through Dr. Derrick Eddy, director of Sports Medicine.

“ESWT is a noninvasive treatment that uses sound waves to help the body heal itself,” explained Dr. Eddy.

The therapy delivers targeted pulses of energy to injured tissues, stimulating blood flow and promoting the body’s natural healing response. It’s often used to treat stubborn, chronic conditions that haven’t improved with other conservative treatments.

Highland High School junior, Lana Wojtowicz, has found relief with shockwave therapy from chronic shin splints.

Conditions treated with ESWT

Dr. Eddy uses shockwave therapy to address a variety of tendon, muscle and bone-related conditions, including:

• Plantar fasciitis (heel pain)
• Achilles tendinopathy
• Tennis or golfer’s elbow
• Shoulder tendinopathy
• Hip bursitis or tendon pain

“These are all problems where the structures are intact, so surgery usually isn’t a good option,” he noted. “Shockwave therapy can help restart the healing process in these tissues.”

For patients like 18-year-old, Emily Lautzenheiser, shockwave therapy has made a world of difference. After injuring her hamstring while running track in 9th grade, Emily sat out sports for 3 years. She is now back to volleyball and cheering thanks to shockwave therapy.

A complement to traditional therapies

According to Dr. Eddy, shockwave therapy doesn’t replace physical therapy but instead enhances it. “It’s a noninvasive treatment like physical therapy and is a good complement to it,” he said. “It approaches healing in a different manner, using the shockwaves to turn on the healing process.”

Promising results for patients

“I’ve seen good results in many patients who have had pain for years and have failed traditional treatments,” said Dr. Eddy.

“There was a patient who injured his elbow over a year ago. He tried physical therapy and injections without much relief,” Dr. Eddy added. “After 3 sessions of shockwave therapy, he was pain-free and was able to golf in a tournament.”

Emily Lautzenheiser and her cheer team at Minerva High School.

Helping athletes return to play

Shockwave therapy has also been effective for athletes eager to get back to their sport. “It’s helped people with chronic hamstring injuries get back to running,” said Dr. Eddy. “Patients with chronic knee pain were able to get back to tumbling and jumping.”

One of those patients is Emily Lautzenheiser, age 18, a senior at Minerva High School. After injuring her hamstring while running track in 9th grade, Emily sat out sports for 3 years.

“She rested her legs and did physical therapy and was cleared to try sports again,” said Emily’s mom, DeeDee. “But when she tried to return to cheer and running, the pain came back.

“We felt dismissed by doctors and were told the pain was in her head,” DeeDee added.

That’s when DeeDee took things into her own hands.

“I did some research and found Dr. Eddy and learned about shockwave therapy,” she said.

Emily did 6 rounds of shockwave therapy with Dr. Eddy on both her back and hamstrings.

“He would go over the trigger points. Each session lasted about 1 hour,” said DeeDee. “Dr. Eddy said her scar tissue was very tight and breaking up the trigger points would help wake up her nerves and promote healing.”

From setbacks to hope

Before turning to shockwave therapy, Lana Wojtowicz tried physical therapy, 3 different types of custom shoe inserts, cupping, dry needling and gait correction but the pain remained.

Highland High School junior Lana Wojtowicz, age 17, recently completed her third round of shockwave therapy for chronic shin splints. A 3-sport athlete – soccer, track and swimming – Lana underwent surgery for chronic exertional compartment syndrome (CECS), a muscle and nerve condition that causes pain and is often exercise-induced. But even after surgery, she continued to experience pain that held her back from participating in sports.

Her mom, Sara, said the journey to finding relief has been long and difficult.

“Treatments included a lot of physical therapy, 3 different types of custom shoe inserts, cupping, dry needling and gait correction but the pain remained,” said Sara.

For Lana, the loss was more than physical.

“Lana’s identity was taken from her when her leg issues started,” Sara said. “She was a runner and a soccer player. Walking around school brought pain, so those sports were not possible. A 17-year-old girl should not hurt walking around day-to-day, especially one whose dream is to go into the military post-high school.”

After exhausting all conservative treatment options, Dr. Eddy recommended shockwave therapy. Just 3 sessions in, Lana is already seeing improvement. She hopes that the progress continues, so she’ll be able to return to her sports in full for her senior year.

“She switched to swimming when running was not an option,” Sara said. “We only treated one leg at first to see how it would work.”

As a parent, Sara said the experience has been emotionally exhausting, but she finally feels hopeful again.

“This is the first time since March that Lana’s leg is pain free,” said Sara. “We’ll be scheduling treatments for her right leg due to the success of her left leg.”