Shockwave therapy is still relatively new in China, and it plays an important role in many medical fields today, including rehabilitation, bone and joint therapy, pain management, and lithotripsy. Today we will introduce the biological effects of shock wave therapy and the clinical use of shock wave therapy. The biological effects of shock wave: Shock wave will produce the following biological effects after acting on the human body. Mechanical stress effect: When the shock wave into the body, due to the different media in contact, such as fat, tendons, ligaments and other soft tissues, as well as skeletal tissue, so the interface in different tissues can produce different mechanical stress effects, expressed as different tensile and compressive stresses on the cells. Tensile stress can cause inter-tissue relaxation and promote microcirculation; compressive stress can cause elastic deformation of cells and increase cellular oxygen uptake, thus achieving therapeutic purposes. Piezoelectric effect: After the shock wave is applied to the bone as a mechanical force, it first increases the stress of the bone tissue and generates a polarization potential, causing a piezoelectric effect. The effect of this piezoelectric effect on bone tissue is related to the energy level of the shock wave. Many animal experiments have found that high-energy shock waves can cause bone fractures in animals, and low-energy shock waves can stimulate bone production? Cavitation effect: a large number of tiny bubbles contained in the human tissue under the action of shock waves rapid expansion, rupture, the emergence of high-speed liquid micro-jet, resulting in the impact effect. Cavitation effect is conducive to unblocking the occluded microscopic blood vessels and loosening the adhesions of joint soft tissues. Pain relief effect: (1) Because of the strong action of in vitro shock wave on human tissues, it can directly inhibit nerve end cells, thus relieving pain; (2) In vitro shock wave can change the frequency of pain acceptance by injury receptors, thus relieving pain; (3) In vitro shock wave inhibits the transmission of pain information by changing the composition of chemical media around injury receptors; (4) In vitro shock wave can cause local congestion (4) extracorporeal shock waves can induce local congestion and thus promote the reduction of inflammation. Based on these biological effects, the main indications for extracorporeal shock wave include bone tissue disorders such as delayed fracture healing, fracture nonunion, adult ischemic necrosis of the femoral head (early to moderate stage) and soft tissue chronic injury disorders such as subacromial bursitis, biceps longus tendinitis, calcific supraspinatus tendinitis, medial humeral epicondylitis, tennis elbow, snapping hip, jumping knee, achilles pain, patella tendinitis, supraspinatus tendon injury, etc. It has also been reported in the literature to have therapeutic effects on plantar fasciitis, tenosynovitis, supraspinous ligamentitis, iliac crestitis, frozen shoulder, cervical spondylosis, disc herniation, periostitis, osteoarthritis, pelvic inflammatory disease, prostatitis, etc. Therefore, shock wave therapy is carried out in the pain department and can achieve good therapeutic results. The side effects of shock wave therapy: Shock wave therapy also has certain side effects, including local tissue redness, subcutaneous bleeding, petechiae, pain, etc., but most of them are transient and can be relieved or eliminated in 1-2 days after treatment. Therefore, there is no need to be afraid of shock wave treatment. From the many reports at home and abroad, shock wave is a very safe and effective treatment for chronic inflammation of soft tissue, delayed healing of fracture and pain. Contraindications to shock wave therapy: Contraindications to shock wave therapy include tumors, pregnant women, patients with bleeding tendencies and coagulation disorders, blood clots, pediatric epiphyseal areas, acute inflammation, etc. It is also necessary to avoid tissues or organs such as the head and face, lung area, kidney area, and spinal cord. Therefore, shock wave therapy needs to be performed under the clear diagnosis and correct operation of physicians and therapists to ensure safety and effectiveness, and should not be operated without authorization. Shockwave therapy is used: During treatment, the physician or therapist first needs to find the patient’s pressure point or myofascial trigger point, and then communicate with the patient about the possible sensations and precautions to be taken during the treatment. The patient is then exposed and placed in a relaxed and comfortable position. The coupling agent is then applied to the treatment area and the parameters, such as intensity, frequency and number of impacts, are set. Generally, the frequency of soft tissue treatment is 8-22Hz, and the intensity is set between 2.0 and 4Bar according to individual feeling; the frequency of bone tissue disease treatment is 2-8Hz, and the intensity is set between 2.5 and 5Bar. And then the shock wave treatment is performed 600-3000 times on the treatment area according to different settings. After the treatment, the associated muscle tissue around the painful or inflammatory point can be relaxed again as needed, with a view to achieving a better treatment effect. The course of shock wave treatment: Shock wave treatment is usually performed once every 3-5 days, 4-6 times as a course of treatment. Patients do not have to travel back and forth daily, the single treatment time is short, the effect is good, the patient compliance is high. It is a safe, convenient, time-saving and effective treatment method.