FOCUSED Shockwave THERAPY
For pain that has stopped healing. Energy delivered to the exact depth of the problem, with little to no downtime.
TREAT THE TISSUE where it hurts
HPC now offers focused shockwave with the Zimmer DualWave FX. The device sends short, high-energy sound pulses into a tendon, ligament, joint, or bone that has been hurting for months and has stopped making progress. Those pulses wake up repair in tissue that has gone quiet. The DualWave FX is an FDA-cleared focused shockwave device.
- Neck
- Upper back
- Shoulder
- Elbow
- Wrist & hand
- Low back
- SI joint
- Hip
- Hamstring
- Knee
- Shin
- Achilles
- Ankle
- Foot & heel
- Plantar fasciitis
- Bunion pain
- Sciatica
- Carpal tunnel
- Old injuries & scar tissue
HOW focused SHOCKWAVE WORKS
A shockwave is a short, high-energy pressure pulse. Where it lands it creates controlled microtrauma in the tissue, and the body answers the way it answers any fresh injury: with a burst of inflammation. That is the point. Chronic tendon and joint problems have stalled because the repair response shut down months ago. Shockwave switches it back on.
That inflammatory response recruits stem cells to the area, releases growth factors that build new blood vessels and new collagen, and resets the pain chemistry at the site. Substance P, the messenger that keeps a sore spot sensitive, is released and then depleted, and serotonin and other pain-modulating signals rise. Pain often drops before the tissue has finished rebuilding.
The DualWave FX is a focused system. Its handpiece shapes the pulse so the energy converges at one point under the skin, and a set of gel pads lets us choose how deep that point sits. A deep hip tendon and a shallow heel get treated with the same precision.
Strongest at the skin and spreads out as it goes deeper. Works like a strong percussion tool over muscle and broad areas.
Energy converges at a chosen depth. Built for tendon insertions, bone, calcium deposits, and joints that sit well below the surface.
I have an arthritic ankle, bone on bone. I treat it at least five days a week with our laser and Frequency Specific Microcurrent, and I have had several rounds of regenerative injections. All of that keeps the pain from getting worse. It manages the ankle. One shockwave treatment was the first thing that made it better.
Kele's experience is common. Zimmer reports that in shockwave studies, pain relief often begins during or immediately after a treatment, and holds over the long term.
Source: Zimmer MedizinSysteme, shockwave therapy overviewBENEFITS OF focused SHOCKWAVE
- 01 Restarts stalled healing. Chronic tendon and ligament problems often stop responding to rest. The mechanical signal from shockwave gives the tissue a fresh reason to rebuild.
- 02 Reaches the actual depth of the problem. Adjustable focal depth puts the energy on a hip tendon, a heel, or a calcium deposit in the shoulder instead of the skin above it.
- 03 Turns down the pain signal. Shockwave quiets the small nerve fibers that keep a sore spot sensitive, so the area stops reporting danger to the brain on every step.
- 04 Little to no downtime. There are no drugs or needles involved. Most people walk out and carry on with their day. Soreness at the spot for a day or two is normal and is part of the response we are after.
- 05 Best studied for the stubborn cases. The evidence is strongest for plantar fasciitis and calcific shoulder tendinopathy, and promising for Achilles, patellar, and elbow tendon problems.
THE hands BEHIND THE TOOL
A shockwave unit is only as good as the hands and the assessment behind it. Fred McDaniel has spent 25 years treating pain, movement, and recovery problems, and he decides where to aim the energy and how many sessions you need based on what your tissue and your movement are telling him.
Shockwave is a stand-alone treatment at HPC, booked on its own schedule. If you already see us for one-on-one sessions, you can add a shockwave treatment to your 50-minute visit for an additional fee, so the tissue that heals also gets loaded the right way afterward.
GETTING regenerative INJECTIONS? ADD SHOCKWAVE.
PRP, prolotherapy, and other regenerative injections deliver growth factors to damaged tissue. Shockwave delivers the mechanical signal that tells the tissue to use them. Clinics that combine the two are reporting better results than either one alone, and the trials are starting to agree.
If you are getting injections from your physician, we coordinate shockwave around your injection schedule so the two reinforce each other instead of competing.
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Tennis elbow
91 patients PRP plus shockwave beat shockwave alone on pain, grip strength, and function at 12 weeks in a randomized, sham-controlled trial. Akçin et al., Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, 2025 -
Jumper's knee
33 athletes One shockwave session a week after PRP cut knee pain faster than PRP alone at the one-month mark, with no adverse effects over a year of follow-up. Jhan et al., Knee Surgery & Related Research, 2024 -
Knee arthritis
128 patients Shockwave plus PRP outperformed either alone on pain, function, and range of motion in knee osteoarthritis with meniscus injury, with fewer complications. Li et al., Pakistan Journal of Medical Sciences, 2024
These are early and mid-sized studies, and the knee study was observational rather than randomized. We cite them because the direction is consistent across joints, tendons, and study designs.
WHY WE START AT three SESSIONS
Each treatment restarts the inflammatory repair cycle, and the tissue needs a week to do its work before the next one. One session can bring relief. It takes a course of them to rebuild the tendon or joint so the relief holds, which is why we book shockwave in packages of three, six, or eight weekly sessions and treat a three-session course as the minimum.
Sessions run 20 minutes and are booked on Wednesdays. Shockwave is booked as its own treatment. It is separate from one-on-one sessions. Current clients can add it to a 50-minute visit for an additional fee.
20 minutes, Wednesdays. A first look at how your tissue responds. Current clients can add a treatment to a 50-minute session for $65, so the combined visit is $265.
Once a week for three weeks. The shortest course that gives the tissue a real chance to remodel. Saves $120.
Once a week for six weeks. For tendons and joints that have been hurting for a year or more. Saves $360.
Once a week for eight weeks. For arthritic joints, calcium deposits, and problems in more than one area. Saves $600.
Package sessions are scheduled a week apart and are used on the same person. We will tell you at your assessment which course fits your problem.
WHAT TO EXPECT
We find the structure that is driving your pain, check how you move, and decide whether shockwave is the right tool and at what depth.
Gel goes on the skin, we pick the pad for the depth we want, and the handpiece works over the spot for a few minutes. It feels like deep, fast tapping and is tender right where the problem is. Plan on 20 minutes.
Expect the spot to be sore for a day or two. That is the inflammatory response doing its job. We time sessions around any regenerative injections you are receiving, and current clients can fold shockwave into their one-on-one work.
Treatments run once a week, on Wednesdays, for three, six, or eight weeks. Relief often shows up after the first one or two, and the tissue keeps remodeling for weeks after the last.
PAIN THAT HAS stopped HEALING?
Come in and let us look at it. Three-session course at $185 per session, with six and eight-session packages that bring the rate down further.