Is Shockwave Therapy Painful?

Shockwave therapy can cause mild discomfort during the session. Most patients describe it as tolerable and many find it less uncomfortable than they expected.

The sensation during treatment is a pulsing pressure in the treated tissue. In areas with significant inflammation or chronic injury, it can feel more intense initially. Dr. Muren adjusts the intensity based on your feedback throughout the session. We start lower and increase as you adjust to the sensation. The goal is to deliver effective therapeutic energy without making the experience unnecessarily unpleasant.

Sessions typically run 10 to 15 minutes on the treatment area. After the session, some patients experience mild soreness in the treated area for 24 to 48 hours. That's a normal and expected part of the healing response. The acoustic waves have triggered an inflammatory cascade that's going to result in tissue repair. The soreness is your body doing what we stimulated it to do.

By the third or fourth session, most patients report that both the treatment discomfort and the post-session soreness have decreased significantly as the tissue heals and the condition improves. We also always assess your progress before each session and adjust accordingly.