Does shockwave therapy hurt?
You may experience mild tenderness whilst the shockwave is being applied, akin to when someone is pressing against a bruise or sore spot.
As the benefits of shockwave begin from the first treatment, it is expected that your pain and symptoms will continue to decrease week after week.
We can stop the treatment at any time and adjust the settings to help you feel comfortable throughout each session.
Do I need a referral?
This is condition and sometimes patient specific - please contact us and we'll be able to quickly answer this for you.
How long does shockwave therapy take?
A 45 minute first consultation and treatment session, then 30 minutely sessions usually weekly for a number of weeks. Erectile dysfunction treatment is a 60 minute first consultation and treatment, then 45 minutely sessions thereafter.
Do you bulk bill?
No. Shockwave therapy is covered by some Private Health Funds, and with prior approval Workcover and Veterans Affairs Patients cover the whole cost.
How do I get to one of your clinics?
Our Brisbane clinic now has free on site parking out the front. Additional paid street parking is available nearby if necessary.
Our Runaway Bay clinic has free on site parking out the front.
Do you treat spinal/back pain or arthritis?
We do not treat areas around the spine or other arthritic problems. We treat tendons and other painful conditions such as plantar fasciitis (heel pain), Achilles tendonitis, and rotator cuff tendonitis including calcific tendonitis. We also treat epicondylitis of the elbow (tennis elbow, golfers elbow), patellar tendonitis and trochanteric bursitis of the hip.
Read more information about the conditions that can be treated here.
What equipment do you use – and how does it work?
With digital ultrasound and two separate shockwave devices we can tailor your treatment precisely. The shockwaves are either focused or radial. Using ultrasound guidance we can accurately determine the exact position and depth of treatment required, which is paramount for a quality treatment.
Read more information about how it works here.
What does the treatment do to the spur? Will it go away?
Spurs usually occur as an end product of inflammation adjacent to the bone resulting in new bone formation. As such the spur is not the cause of the pain and therefore there is no reason to remove it. The spur represents new bone. It cannot be removed by shockwaves however, the cause of the pain is due to inflammation in the adjacent tendon or fascia. The treatment is directed at this pathology encouraging healing of the inflammation.
Will the treatment dissolve the calcific deposit?
Calcific deposits are usually a response to the pathology within the tendon. There is evidence that calcific deposits can and do resorb in response to shock wave treatment. This is also dependent on the size and number of calcific deposits as well as stage of development. It is thought that lithotripsy works by stimulating a natural response that result in resorption of the calcific deposits. Even in cases where this does not occur for example if the calcium becomes very hard with age, often there is success with lithotripsy in significantly reducing symptoms and pain.
Will I be able to go back to sport/running/work?
The aim of lithotripsy is to reduce inflammation so that you can return to normal activities as quickly as possible.
Can you treat my kidney stones?
Visiting because of kidney stones (renal calculus or nephrolith)?
Lithotripsy is an effective treatment for this as well.
Whilst QLS doesn't provide this treatment, we recommend contacting Eastcoast Mobile Urology to learn more about their treatment options.