EPAT Treatment for Plantar Fasciitis [Cost? How Effective is It? & Reviews]

Does EPAT treatment work?

We frequently hear the question, “How does EPAT treatment work?” and “Does EPAT treatment work?”

Shock wave therapy is hypothesized to work by inducing microtrauma to the tissue affected by these problems.

• This microtrauma initiates a healing response by the body. This can create new blood vessel formation and thick, stiff scar tissue remodeling.
• The healing response causes blood vessel formation and increased delivery of nutrients to the affected area for remodeling and faster healing.
• Microtrauma is thought to stimulate a repair process and relieve the symptoms of pain.
• This has shown to be effective for plantar fasciitis, Achilles tendonitis, scar tissue, plantar fibroma pain, and other medical problems throughout the body.

EPAT Treatment Scientific Reviews:

EPAT treatment for plantar fasciitis: 

• Plantar fasciitis is one of the most effective conditions treated by radial shockwave therapy.
• This 2021 study says shockwave therapy is a very effective treatment, but it is limited by a few providers and lacks equipment availability.
• This scientific study literature review attests to the high effectiveness of shockwave treatment for plantar fasciitis.
• We list numerous studies above about how cost-effective and beneficial this can be for this condition.

EPAT Shockwave Treatment for Achilles tendonitis:

• This 2019 study shows that shockwave therapy is a validated and effective treatment for Achilles tendon pain.
• Achilles tendinitis is also a very successful condition that is treated by shockwave therapy.
• This treatment is effective for both insertional Achilles tendonitis and midsubstance Achilles tendonitis.
• We see specific benefits in the region 2-6 cm above the heel insertion.
• We also see excellent results at the Achilles tendon insertion site into the back of the heel bone.

EPAT Shockwave treatment myofascial pain:

• Radial shockwave therapy is especially effective in treating myofascial pain.
• It treats the myofascial pain by sending radial shockwaves deeper than a treatment like ultrasound would.
• This 2021 study says shockwave therapy is a very effective treatment, but it is limited by a few providers and lacks equipment availability.
• It can also stimulate remodeling of the myofascial and stimulate blood vessel growth even 2-3 months after treatment.

EPAT Shockwave therapy for tendinopathy:

• This treatment has been shown in the studies to be very beneficial for tendinopathy.
• This 2021 study says shockwave therapy is a very effective treatment for tendinopathy, but it is limited by a few providers and lacks equipment availability.
• Specifically, we have seen better results than ultrasound as the shockwaves can penetrate more unidirectional and deep fascia than ultrasound therapy.
• The studies have been shown just as effective as eccentric loading with better results at 3 and 4 months due to tissue remodeling and increased blood vessel growth.

EPAT Shockwave treatment for posterior tibial tendonitis:

• Shockwave treatment can be very effective for posterior tibial tendonitis.
• In our opinion, posterior tibial tendonitis is an acute condition that can be corrected well with good shoes, custom orthotics, and a good lace-up ankle brace.
• We believe that shockwave therapy is not a primary treatment protocol for posterior tibial tendonitis.
• This 2021 study says that shockwave therapy is a very effective treatment for tendon and ligament pain. Still, it is limited by a small number of providers and a lack of equipment availability.
• If there is chronic scar tissue visualized on ultrasound, then shockwave therapy can be beneficial.
• We do not recommend utilizing shockwaves for acute posterior tibial tendonitis.

EPAT Plantar fibroma shockwave treatment:

• This 2020 study shows that shockwave therapy is an effective and validated treatment for reducing Lederhose disease, plantar fibromatosis, and plantar fibroma formation to both feet.
• Utilizing shockwaves and shockwave treatment for plantar fibroma is one of the most beneficial treatment options that we see.
• We have seen outstanding improvement for plantar fibroma pain utilizing shockwave therapy.
• This is probably the most beneficial treatment that we can perform for plantar fibroma pain.
• Personally, we have significantly reduced the amount of surgery do for plantar fibroma formation with the ability to utilize a device like a shockwave therapy.

EPAT Shockwave treatment for arthritis:

• There have been numerous studies detailing how effective shockwave therapy can be for osteoarthritis.
• This 2019 study shows that knee osteoarthritis is not reversed.
• We have at length some of the above under the plantar fascia evidence section.
• There have been studies in the past regarding shockwave treatment for knee osteoarthritis.
• It is also beneficial for treating calcification of tendons and bone spur formation that extends out into the tendons.

EPAT Shockwave treatment for bone spurs:

• Shockwave treatment is fairly effective for the treatment of calcification within tendons and bone spur formation.
• We see particular effectiveness for heel spur formation both on the heel’s bottom and back.
• Studies show shockwave therapy can action remodel scarred thick tendon tissue, remodeling calcified tendon tissue, and bone, and stimulating new blood vessel growth to create tissue regeneration within the area.
• We utilize shockwave therapy for plantar fascia pain.
• Plantar fasciitis heel spurs, the bottom of the heel spurs, insertional Achilles tendonitis heel spurs, which are back of the heel spurs.

EPAT Shockwave treatment for scar tissue:

• Utilizing shockwaves to break up scar tissue is very beneficial for us.
• We specifically see good benefits for Morton’s neuroma scars, old hard bunion scars.
• Bottom of the foot scars from puncture injuries, the bottom of the heel scars from previous plantar fascia surgeries, and Achilles tendon rupture and repair scars.
• We believe that shockwave therapy in our hands has shown excellent results.
• We have seen even in just 1 or 2 treatments significant softening and improvement of the scar.

EPAT Shockwave treatment for proximal hamstring tendinopathy:

• This is an off-label use for us as podiatrists, so we do not provide proximal hamstring tendinopathy treatment at our clinic.
• But studies show that it can be very beneficial at a high setting and break up the stiffness and scar tissue within the hamstring.
• The difficulty is that this is deep tissue, and if there is a significant fat pad between the hamstring and the skin, this can limit the ability of the shockwave to break up the scar tissue in its intense region.
• Studies do show that shockwave therapy can penetrate deeper than ultrasound therapy can.

EPAT Morton’s neuroma shockwave treatment:

• As posterior tibial tendonitis, shockwave therapy is probably not the ideal treatment for Morton’s neuroma pain.
• At our clinic, we specialize in treating Morton’s neuroma pain and treating revision surgery for Morton’s neuroma.
• Our personal recommendation is to not focus on utilizing shockwave therapy for Morton’s neuroma, as we have not had a great success as we have had for other conditions.
• If you have Morton’s neuroma pain, we have numerous treatment methods such as first appointment premade orthotics that can be modified, custom orthotics, various injection therapies.
• We believe that we can get almost every Morton’s neuroma better if given a chance!

EPAT Shockwave treatment for bursitis.

• We have had a lot of success for retrocalcaneal heel bursitis and back of the heel bursitis utilizing shockwave therapy.
• This is a very beneficial treatment for back of the heel pain and insertional Achilles tendon pain, which has shown outstanding results.
• As the bottom of the heel pain, the back of the heel pain has shown outstanding improvement with shockwave therapy.
• We have numerous patients that have had surgery and other treatment options that have seen excellent results very rapidly from this type of treatment.

EPAT Shockwave treatment for calcific tendonitis:

• We do list numerous studies above where shockwave treatment can be very beneficial for calcific tendonitis.
• Studies show that the mechanisms of shockwave treatment’s action are remodeling of the scarred thick tendon tissue, remodeling calcified tendon tissue and bone, and stimulating new blood vessel growth to create tissue regeneration within the area.
• We do list specific case reports where a bone spur did regress and close down in size.
• This is with the working theory of new blood vessel formation and remodeling of the tissue.

EPAT Shockwave treatment knee tendonitis:

• Studies do show that shockwave treatment is beneficial for her knee tendonitis.
• Further studies do show that shockwave therapy is a cost-effective and worthwhile treatment.
• As we are podiatrists, we do not perform knee therapy.

EPAT Shockwave treatment for heel pain:

• We have had significant improvement with shockwave therapy for both bottoms of the heel pain and the back of the heel pain.
• We believe shockwave treatments for plantar fasciitis heel pain and Achilles tendonitis heel pain to be extremely beneficial.
• Numerous studies cite the cost-effective nature, the rapid results, and the low-risk nature of pursuing shockwave treatment for heel pain.