New this year: A NeoShockwave Therapy Unit!
Many sport horse and lameness practices employ shockwaves into the treatment and rehabilitation of their athletes. Extracorporeal shock waves (ESWs) are 
acoustic (pressure) waves with a very high amplitude and rapid rise time. Our system uses a vaporization of fluid across a spark gap (electrohydraulic) and the pressure wave is brought to a focal point in order to treat a specific point within the tissue. The shockwaves simulate trauma without doing trauma which thereby trigger the body’s own healing mechanism.
The original application of shock waves were in people to break-up uroliths and then was discovered to treat musculoskeletal injuries such as nonunion fractures, heel spurs, and tennis elbow.
The mechanisms by which ESWs provide a therapeutic outcome are minimally understood. We have discovered that ESWs provide the following as it stimulates the body’s own biologic reapair and healing responses. The mechanism of actions:
- Neovascularization and increased blood supply through vasodilation(dilatation of blood vessels) in tissue
- Cytokine up regulation in tissue and through gene expression
- Activation and recruitment of autologous stem cells
- Anti-inflammatory effects, down regulation of certain MMPs
- Analgesia – USEF and FEI rules applied
Application in the horse can include the following.
- Splint bone fractures – Improved bone remodeling and fracture healing
- Bone spavin
- Suspensory desmitis – Improved soft tissue healing and regeneration
- Distal limb wounds – Increased blood supply
- Caudal heel pain – Reactivation of repair process in chronic injuries