Plantar fasciitis is one of the most prevalent conditions causing heel pain. It often results from repeated strain, leading to microtears in the plantar fascia. Predisposing factors may include pes planus, limited ankle dorsiflexion or prolonged standing or jumping.
Extracorporeal Shock Wave Therapy (ESWT) harnesses your body’s natural ability to relieve muscle and joint discomfort. When combined with local vibration therapy, ESWT becomes even more effective than any single method alone.
Increased Blood Flow
Plantar fasciitis (PF), inflammation or tear of a fibrous bowstring that supports your arch and acts as a shock absorber, can become irritated or torn due to repeated strain on your foot. This causes discomfort when walking or standing; its treatment entails using cold and hot packs, stretching exercises, heel lifts and massages as well as other measures such as splints, steroid injections or physical therapy as necessary.
Vibration therapy can assist in alleviating PF pain by increasing blood flow to an injured area and decreasing inflammation and swelling, improving tissue elasticity and speeding up muscle fiber contraction times, while at the same time carrying healing nutrients directly to injury sites.
Researchers recently conducted a study assessing the effect of local vibration combined with extracorporeal shock wave therapy (ESWT-LV) on plantar fascia thickness, pain levels and foot function in 34 participants randomized into two treatment groups for five weeks; ESWT-LV showed greater improvements than ESWT alone when it comes to thickness, pain level and foot function improvement. Both groups saw two treatment sessions each week over five weeks from each group’s 2 weekly ESWT treatments. Researchers discovered that both groups improved significantly in plantar fascia thickness, pain level and foot function than either group had expected before but ESWT-LV showed more significant increases than either group would have had.
Therapeutic ultrasound is another effective solution to PF. The thermal effect of ultrasound increases soft tissue temperature between 41 to 44 degrees Celsius, relaxing muscles while shortening muscle fibre contract time and increasing collagen pliability. Furthermore, cavitation occurs which improves cell permeability while stimulating growth factors to speed healing processes in the body.
Studies show that vibration of platelets within the bloodstream can increase concentrations of clotting proteins, prompting formation of new tissue. This process, known as platelet-rich plasma (PRP), can be used to treat plantar fasciitis by injecting concentrated solutions directly into it; such solutions contain high concentrations of healing growth factors to promote tissue repair and regeneration.
Increased Lymphatic Circulation
Vibration therapy helps stimulate lymphatic drainage to work more quickly, helping remove acid-filled build-up in the plantar fascia that causes pain or inflammation. Vibration also induces involuntary muscle contractions to strengthen weak feet and lower leg muscles to improve balance and prevent injuries from happening.
The plantar fascia is the band of tissue that supports the arch of your foot. It can become tight, irritated or inflamed following repetitive activity or long periods spent standing or sitting, potentially resulting in stabbing pain that renders walking or standing uncomfortable or impossible. Left untreated, this condition could become permanent causing discomfort that makes walking and standing uncomfortable or impossible altogether.
As a rule, conservative treatments for plantar fasciitis include activity modification (i.e. reducing your activity levels or altering work shifts), shoe inserts, stretching exercises and physical therapy as the first line of attack. If these measures fail to help, your doctor may suggest shock wave therapy to provide long-term pain relief; although noninvasive, shock wave therapy has proven itself as an effective and noninvasive means to do just that; unfortunately though this treatment option isn’t covered by many insurance plans making the treatments costlier out-of-pocket without insurance coverage.
A 2021 research study concluded that combining local vibration with extracorporeal shock wave therapy (ESWT) proved more successful at treating plantar fasciitis than either therapy alone. Researchers observed a reduction in plantar fascia thickness, pain and foot function index scores more quickly after combined therapy versus single ESWT treatments alone; they further suggest increased neovascularization leading to faster healing as a result of combined treatments.
The authors found that when combined with ESWT, LV caused plantar fascia contraction which helped reduce pain and improve foot function. They hypothesized that increased blood flow to injured tissues triggered pain receptor neurons into responding with chemical changes which blocked neurotransmitters signaling pain reducing sensitivity significantly.
This approach to plantar fasciitis treatment is relatively new, having only been studied in a handful of studies so far. But these preliminary research findings are extremely encouraging and suggest that using both Low Voltage (LV) and ESWT therapy as one effective solution may indeed provide relief from symptoms.
Increased Involuntary Muscle Contraction
Plantar fasciitis vibration therapy involves applying penetrating waves of ultrasound energy directly onto the affected area, where shock waves create microtrauma that triggers your body’s natural healing response and new blood vessel formation, providing extra oxygen and nutrients to injuries. Furthermore, shock wave therapy stimulates nerve endings for immediate pain reduction as well as analgesia; and increases cell permeability to promote further healing.
Plantar fasciitis is a painful musculoskeletal condition affecting the heel and arch of the foot, caused by inflammation of the plantar fascia ligament which supports it and functions as a shock absorber. With repeated mechanical overload and microtrauma – for instance by bearing weight for extended periods or weight bearing beyond what’s healthy – microtrauma may lead to an inflammation response leading to plantar fasciitis symptoms. Risk factors for plantar fasciitis include shortening calf muscles, prolonged weight bearing, high body mass index (BMI), foot deformities like metatarsal malalignment as well as loss of plantar fat pad (pad of fat at bottom of heel).
Treatment options for plantar fasciitis may include nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory medications, Achilles tendon stretching exercises, night splint therapy, steroid injections and extracorporeal shock wave treatment (ESWT). According to a 2021 study, ESWT significantly enhanced pain management for those suffering from plantar fasciitis; additional local vibration treatments proved more successful than ESWT alone in terms of relieving symptoms.
Researchers from Sahmyook University in Seoul, South Korea recently conducted research to test the efficacy of vibration therapy on chronic plantar fasciitis. After five weeks of weekly treatments at each location, measurements were taken on thickness and pain levels as well as foot function – with ESWT-LV group experiencing greater decreases than ESWT alone group.
They discovered that vibration therapy greatly enhanced Kawahira’s repetitive facilitation exercise for ankle dorsiflexion – essential to walking and weight-bearing – as vibration therapy suppressed spinal motor neuron excitability in ankle flexors while increasing H-reflex amplitude significantly.
Reduced Acidity
Plantar fascia injuries often lead to an accumulation of fluid in the heel area, causing pain and stiffness as well as restricting range of movement in the foot. One effective method for relieving symptoms and hastening recovery is vibration therapy – using pulsed energy stimulation of tissue to remove fluid accumulations while also decreasing nerve sensitivity in this region can ease symptoms associated with pain relief and discomfort due to injury.
Frequency of shock waves used during vibration therapy can have an enormous effect on its effectiveness. Higher frequencies typically prove more successful at relieving pain as their pulses of vibration disrupt how pain signals are sent to the brain, rendering them unrecognizable as painful; this effect is known as vibratory analgesia and has been proven numerous times through numerous studies.
Vibration therapy offers another great benefit by reducing the thickness of plantar fascia. This helps alleviate pain associated with plantar fasciitis symptoms. A 2021 study demonstrated how four sessions of shock wave treatment significantly decreased thickness while also alleviating symptoms associated with this condition.
Other treatments for plantar fasciitis may include steroid injections and surgery. Both may provide short-term relief; however, both come with potential side effects like numbness or tingling in the heel and may weaken ligaments over time. Another possible treatment method involves extracorporeal shock wave therapy, in which sound waves are directed directly into affected heel areas to promote healing – this may be uncomfortable and require multiple treatment sessions before showing results.
Vibration therapy of the plantar fascia using a hand-held device that emits high-frequency pulses has proven effective at relieving lower limb spasticity and increasing range of motion for patients suffering from cerebral palsy-like symptoms, including those suffering from Fetal Minamata Disease (FMD). Furthermore, vibration therapy increased ankle dorsiflexion movement while attenuating spinal A-motor neuron excitability to enhance repetitive facilitation exercises’ effectiveness.
