Toronto podiatrist attends shockwave meeting for the treatment of heel pain due to plantar fasciitis
posted: Jun. 17, 2013.
On Saturday, June 15, 2013, I spent one of the nicest days of the spring indoors, attending a medical conference at the University of Toronto on shockwave and musculoskeletal ultrasonography . I was the only Toronto podiatrist among the 100 or so attendees.
Topics included the physics of focused and radial shockwave therapy, Extracorporeal Shock Wave Therapy for Heel Spur Pain, Arch Pain, Plantar Fasciitis, Achilles Tendonitis , case studies for upper and lower extremity pathologies, plantar fasciitis imaging techniques, advanced applications of shockwave, and a question and answer panel discussion featuring Dr. Ludger Gerdesmeyer, an orthopedic surgeon and sports trauma specialist from Germany, Prof. Matthias Beck, an expert in musculoskeletal ultrasonography, also from Germany, and Dr. Mansour Alvi, an orthopedic surgeon from the University of Toronto.
Of course, I was most interested in the lectures on lower extremity pathology, especially heel pain due to plantar fasciitis, a problem I see regularly in my Toronto podiatry office.
People with plantar fasciitis tend to have pain in their heel or arch with the first few steps in the morning and following the rest. This is due to irritation or inflammation of the plantar fascia, which is a broad ligament that runs on the bottom of the foot, from the heel to the toes. If the foot isn’t balanced and supported properly, the plantar fascia can become irritated.
At this conference, the lecturers discussed how focused extracorporeal shock waves as well as unfocused radial or pressure waves , also referred to as radial shockwaves , can relieve the pain of plantar fasciitis and aid in the healing of the plantar fascia.
I have been fortunate to have the opportunity of treating many people with chronic plantar fasciitis with extracorporeal shock waves during the last nine years. I have also been using radial shockwaves to treat acute plantar fasciitis, as well as Achilles tendinitis, for several years. Recently, I have been combining laser therapy with radial shockwaves to treat pain and inflammation in the foot.
I have had the chance to meet Dr. Gerdesmeyer, and discuss shockwave therapy with him, at several conferences in the past including the international shockwave meetings in Orlando, Toronto, Sorrento Italy, France and Chicago. It was a pleasure to see him again.
If you, or someone you care about, suffer from heel pain, plantar fasciitis, or other foot problems in Toronto or the surrounding areas, please call my Toronto foot clinic at 416-486-9917 to set up a private consultation and find out how you can be helped.
For more information on the foot problems we treat, please visit www.footcare.net