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Low Back Pain/Sacroiliac Joint and Shockwave Therapy

🎥 Chapters
00:00 Intro: The Sacroiliac Pain Cycle
0:24 SI Joint Pain and Shockwave Therapy Testimonial
1:10 What is the Piezowave Low Energy Focused Shockwave Machine?
1:20 How Shockwave Therapy works for SI Joint Pain
1:54 My Experience with the Piezowave ESWT for my low back pain
2:40 Research and Benefits of Piezowave Low Energy Focused Shockwave Therapy
4:12 PiezoWave for SI Joint Arthritis

 

Low Back Pain/Sacroiliac Joint and Shockwave Therapy

Stop Sacroiliac Joint Pain for Good with low energy focused shockwaves from the Piezowave! Are you struggling with chronic SI joint pain? The Piezowave is low-energy focused shockwave therapy.  This therapy is a non-invasive treatment that helps you stand tall after hunching forward with lower back pain.  From breaking up scar tissue to stimulating tissue regeneration, Focused shockwave therapy offers hope for those suffering from SI joint inflammation, pain and even SI joint arthritis.

LOW BACK PAIN HELPED WITH EXTRACORPOREAL SHOCKWAVE THERAPY IN THE SF BAY AREA

Sacroiliac pain and facet joint pain can be greatly helped with ESWT.  Check out how…

LUMBAR FACET JOINT PAIN AND ESWT

Between each vertebra are 3 connection points.  There is the disc in the front (this is why when people have disc problems they have more symptoms bending forward) and there are two joints in the back.  These are called the facet joints (see diagram). When someone has facet joint pain they usually hurt when they arch their spine. Facet joint pain accounts for ⅓ of chronic low back pain. Having a practice for over 20 years outside The Villages senior community in San Jose, we have seen a lot of degenerated facet joints on x-ray!

SOME SYMPTOMS OF FACET JOINT PAINESWT can help Lumbar Facet Joint Pain

  • Pain when leaning backward
  • Buttock pain
  • Leg pain to the knee
  • Pain standing for periods
  • Pain sitting 
  • Facet arthritis on x-ray
  • Low back muscle spasms

With ESWT sound waves are focused in and around the facet joints.  The sound waves break up adhesions, bring blood into the area and help the joint cartilage to regenerate.  This has been shown in controlled settings and outcomes in our Los Gatos office are very good.

ESWT used over lumbar facet joint pain

The Piezowave 2 wand placed over lumbar facet joints

When comparing ESWT to steroid injections for facet joint pain, ESWT showed better long-term results without the high cost and damaging side effects of injecting corticosteroids into the facet joints [1].

Another medical treatment for facet joint pain is a medial nerve branch block called radiofrequency neurotomy (RMBN).  Here, the nerves are, literally, killed.  This lasts for 1 to 2 years until the nerve grows back [1].  ESWT, coupled with proper spinal rehab, is a better option as it helps fix the problem rather than just getting rid of the symptom to wake up with a bigger problem down the road.  

ESWT will help with some desensitization of the pain [2,3,4] but that is just the beginning.  ESWT is approved as a noninvasive way to help regenerate tissue [11-14].  We are now moving into a new phase in healthcare toward regenerative medicine and away from cutting out parts and tissues of the body.

ESWT also plays a role as desensitization of the painful facet joints [2,3,4]. Extracorporeal Shock Wave Therapy (ESWT) can be nowadays approved as an effective, safe, noninvasive therapy for many musculoskeletal diseases and many conditions where regenerative effects are desirable. It is the novel therapy for applications in the fields of regenerative medicine, tissue engineering and cell therapies [3,4,5,6].

HOW DO EXTRACORPOREAL SHOCKWAVES AFFECT YOUR TISSUES

  • Increased permeability of the cell membranes of the tissue
  • Increased circulation and metabolism of the cells
  • Breaking up of scar tissue (even within the facet joints)
  • Healing of collagen fibers by fibroblast stimulation [5,6]

I am thrilled to say that with ESWT and the extensive set of tools be have to help facet joint pain, you are likely to have the healing you are looking for in our office.  We look forward to serving you. (408) 274-2244

SACROILIAC JOINT PAIN AND ESWT

Before reading sacroiliac (SI) joint pain please read the information on facet joint pain as there is some crossover information.

Your sacroiliac joints are formed by the connection between the sacrum (the triangular shaped bone at the base of your spine) and your iliac bones (some would call them your hips).  So, the sacroiliac joints connect your pelvis to your spine.  There insn’t much movement in the SI joints but when they get locked up there can be pain and accelerated degeneration. Because your SI joints support the entire weight of your torso, they tend to get worn cartilage and arthritic.

POSSIBLE SYMPTOMS OF SACROILIAC JOINT DYSFUNCTIONLow back pain, sacroliac joint pain helped with Shockwave therapy-ESWT

  • Pain at the SI joint
  • Lower back pain
  • Pain in the back of the hips
  • Worse standing
  • Improved  with lying down
  • Gluteal muscle spasms

Usually, when there is SI joint dysfunction, it is a problem with too little movement rather than too much movement.  When SI joints become fixated they are more likely to hurt.  In general, movement feels good in the human body.  When a baby is crying you rock it, when you hit your hand with a hammer you shake it and when you want to soothe yourself you use a massage chair. We love movement and that goes for your SI joints as well.

Our extracorporeal shockwave therapy has focused sound waves that can go into the SI joints, break up scar tissue, bring nutrients via blood into the SI joints and help regenerate the collagen fibers within the joints.  Chiropractic is phenomenal for putting movement into the SI joints.  However, if the joints are dried up and arthritic, they will lock up again.

Necessary for any tissue repair process is the production of collagen.  ESWT advances procollagen synthesis and the new fibers have a better structure and denser and stiff.  So, we get more lubrication in the SI joint and more stability from the ligaments outside the SI joint.  Add to that an active muscular system and you have a sacroiliac joint complex that is ready to sit, stand, jump and dance for years to come.

Let us share this wonderful technology with you.  Come to either the San Jose or Los Gatos office for an evaluation but the Piezowave 2 is located in our Los Gatos office.

You can reach Dr Fields for in-person (Los Gatos and San Jose, California) or telehealth appointments here.

 

SI Joint Pain Helped with Extracorporeal Shockwave Therapy (ESWT)

Dr Fields of Los Gatos & San Jose, CA demonstrating ESWT use over the SI Joint

Dr Adam Fields is a practicing chiropractor in the Bay Area in Northern California and helps people daily in his office with many challenges that can be helped by shockwave therapy from tendinopathies, arthritis, cartilage regeneration, post surgical scar tissue, pelvic pain, altered biomechanics and more. He uses Endonasal Cranial Adjusting, the Muncie Technique, Extracorporeal Shockwave Therapy (ESWT), Class IV Laser Therapy, posture correction, lifestyle modification, muscle work, and other techniques to help his patients.

 

Shockwave Therapy, Low Back Pain and Sacroiliac Joint Research

*Outcomes of the treatment of trigger digits by extracorporeal shock wave therapy (ESWT) https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32135551/

*Extracorporeal shock wave therapy for sacroiliac joint pain: A prospective, randomized, sham-controlled short-term trial https://content.iospress.com/articles/journal-of-back-and-musculoskeletal-rehabilitation/bmr150405
In the ESWT group, Numeric Rating Scale (for pain) decreased significantly at post-treatment week 4 compared to baseline. In the sham group, NRS did not differ at any post-treatment time point.

*Extracorporeal Shock Wave Therapy for the Treatment of Osteoarthritis: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7104126/
Shockwave therapy had significant improvement in both pain reduction and functional improvement compared with placebo, corticosteroid, hyaluronic acid, medication, and ultrasound groups.

*Biological mechanism of shockwave in bone
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1743919115003325?via%3Dihub
ESWT promotes tissue regeneration, wound healing, angiogenesis, bone remodeling, and anti-inflammation.

*Nedelka T1, Nedelka J2, Schlenker J3, Hankins C4, Mazanec R1. Mechano-transduction effect of shockwaves in the treatment of lumbar facet joint pain: comparative effectiveness evaluation of shockwave therapy, steroid injections and radiofrequency medial branch neurotomy.Neuro Endocrinol Lett. 2014;35(5):393-7

*Suputtitada A (2015) Spinal segmental sensitization and myofascial pain syndrome: Evidences and experiences. Int J Phys Med Rehabil 3:4.

*Saggini R,Di Stefano A,Saggini A,Bellomo RG (2014) Clinical application of shock wave therapy in musculoskeletal disorders: part II related tomyofascialand nerve apparatus. Eur J PhysRehabil Med 50:217-230.

*Suputtitada A, Schmitz C (2016) Extracorporeal Shock Wave Therapy (ESWT) in Musculoskeletal Disorders. ISPRM.

*Schmitz C, Nikolaus BM, Stefan M, Matthias S, Nicola M, et al. (2015) Efficacy and safety of extracorporeal shock wave therapy for orthopedic conditions: a systematic review on studies listed in the PEDro database. Br Med Bull 116: 115-138.

*Suputtitada A (2016) Extracorporeal Shock Wave Therapy (ESWT) in Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation conditions. ISPRM.