New Service: Pulsevet Shock Wave Therapy | 11/14/24
What is Shock Wave Therapy?
Shock wave is a noninvasive, high-energy sound wave treatment commonly used in human and veterinary medicine.
It helps to decrease pain, improve quality of healing, decrease healing time, and it can be done easily without the need for sedation in most cases!
Shock wave can help decrease the time it takes for an injury to heal, manage chronic pain for up to a year, and improve both mobility and performance.
Cases we have found it useful for include treating soft tissue injuries (like tendon or ligament tears), kissing spine management, osteoarthritis, chronic asthma and EIPH, and much more!
What should I expect?
If you have never heard of or seen Shock Wave Therapy in action before, you might feel a little intimidated. Fear not, this simple and effective treatment is often well-accepted by horses (even very sensitive ones!).
Similar to ultrasound, the Shock Wave trode requires a clean surface and lots of contact gel to penetrate efficiently. There are different trodes depending on the desired structure and depth required for treatment. Once the treatment begins, there is some loud noise associated which can be a little surprising at first. Generally after the first few shocks, most horses ease into the treatment without issue.
The time for a full treatment depends on the number of shocks, but only takes a few minutes. Once therapy has completed, the horse may return to the management they were in previously.
How often is Shock Wave performed?
Shockwave is most commonly performed every 2-3 weeks for 3 treatments.
For conditions that require a booster treatment, those can be repeated as a once off as needed.
What evidence is there for Shock Wave Therapy?
Follow the link below to see a summary and links to exciting studies on use of Shock Wave for equine asthma, navicular syndrome, back recovery, and more!