Shockwave therapy can treat common foot ailments quickly and effectively

An unfortunate truth of podiatry is that many medical conditions can affect the feet of anyone - whether they are sedentary or active, overweight or not.

While a person can take some preventive measures, treatment is sometimes necessary for common foot ailments like plantar fasciitis, the painful inflammation of a thick band of tissue running from heel to toe, or Achilles tendonitis, the inflammation of the tendon above the heel due to the breakdown of tendon fibers, which can then harden.

Luckily, a type of shockwave therapy available at Advanced Foot Care Centers means that treatment can be easier and more effective than ever.

"When I started practicing medicine 25 years ago, the paradigm for care was significantly different," said Dr. Ira Kraus, managing partner at Advanced Foot Care. "When people came in with plantar fasciitis, we would treat them with steroid injections, anti-inflammatory medications, orthotics and a variety of different modalities. With the advent of shockwave therapy, these machines are now used for musculoskeletal injuries."

The technology is called EPAT, or extracorporeal pulse activation therapy, and it uses acoustic sound waves to disrupt tissue in the affected area, causing it to further inflame. It sounds counterintuitive, but when anti-inflammatory cells arrive to heal the affected tissue, they also end up healing the original problem.

"All sports teams use it now," said Kraus, who has been in practice with Advanced Foot Care since 1990. "You hear about how your players are getting back faster, because they're able to use better technology that helps these muscles regenerate, repair, function at a quicker rate. And that's really what shockwave therapy does."

The EPAT regimen requires three treatments spaced one week apart, and, since it is non-surgical, patients have it done in the office.

"Each session takes about 20 minutes, and we ask them to decrease their weight-bearing activity by about 50 percent for four weeks," said Kraus, who is on the board of trustees of the American Podiatric Medical Association.

"Prior to the advent of this machine, 70 percent of my patients that had Achilles tendonitis and retrocalcaneal bursitis would have to have surgery," Kraus noted. "Now, the odds are reversed in their favor. Seventy percent now can get better without surgery."

EPAT holds a lot of potential for athletes in particular, he said.

"There's a whole avenue of opportunities to get good clinical outcomes and get student-athletes back to playing sports in a safe, quicker, more effective manner," he said.

While insurance does not yet cover in-office EPAT treatments, Kraus said that, for many patients, it can be more cost-effective in the long run. With more traditional treatment options, a patient may have to pay a co-pay each time for two or three injections, followed by weeks of co-pays for physical therapy if the injections don't work.

"This procedure is more successful, less invasive and patients recover quicker," he said. We've had really good results."