Most people who end up in my clinic with a stubborn tendon injury have already tried the obvious things.
They’ve rested it. They’ve stretched it. They’ve iced it, compressed it, maybe even had a cortisone injection. And it keeps coming back – or it never fully went away in the first place.
If that sounds familiar, this is worth reading.
What is Shockwave Therapy?
Shockwave therapy is a clinically proven, non-invasive treatment that uses high-energy acoustic waves to stimulate healing in damaged tendons and soft tissue.
In plain terms: it delivers controlled energy directly into the injured area, triggering your body’s own repair process. It increases blood flow, breaks down calcification, and stimulates the production of collagen – the building block of healthy tendons.
It isn’t a painkiller. It doesn’t mask the problem. It actually changes the tissue.
What does it treat?
Shockwave has the strongest evidence base for:
- Plantar fasciitis — that stabbing heel pain first thing in the morning, or after long periods on your feet
- Achilles tendinopathy — pain and stiffness at the back of the heel, common in runners and anyone who’s had a sudden increase in activity
- Patellar tendinopathy — pain at the front of the knee, often described as “just below the kneecap,” especially in runners and footballers
- Hamstring tendinopathy — deep buttock pain that gets worse with sitting or running hills
These conditions have one thing in common: they’re notoriously slow to heal on their own, and they don’t always respond to conventional treatment.
Why tendons are different
Here’s why these injuries are so frustrating. Tendons have poor blood supply compared to muscle. That means they heal slowly – and when they’re repeatedly loaded before they’ve recovered, the tissue degenerates rather than repairs.
The result is a tendon that’s structurally compromised, often painful, and stuck in a cycle that rest alone won’t break.
Shockwave interrupts that cycle.
What the research says
This isn’t experimental. Shockwave therapy has decades of clinical evidence behind it and is recommended by NICE (the UK’s national body for clinical guidance) for specific tendinopathies.
Studies consistently show 70-80% of patients with chronic plantar fasciitis and Achilles tendinopathy experience significant improvement after a course of treatment. For conditions that have been present for months or years, that’s a meaningful result.
What to expect
A typical course is 3-6 sessions, spaced one week apart. The treatment itself takes around 10-15 minutes per session. Most people experience some discomfort during treatment – the acoustic waves are doing real work – but it’s well tolerated, and there’s no downtime afterwards.
You don’t need a GP referral. You can book directly.
Who is it for?
Shockwave is particularly effective for people who:
- Have had pain for more than 3 months that isn’t improving
- Want to avoid steroid injections or surgery
- Need to stay active – runners especially – and can’t afford extended rest periods
- Have tried physiotherapy or rehab exercises without getting the results they hoped for
You don’t need to be an elite athlete. Some of the best outcomes I see are in people who just want to walk without pain, get back to parkrun, or stand at work without dreading the end of the day.
The bottom line
If you’ve been managing a tendon injury for months and you’re not getting better, the problem probably isn’t effort or patience. It might just be that the tissue needs a different stimulus to heal – and that’s exactly what shockwave provides.
HD Sports Rehab is based at The Edge Gym, Willows Farm, St Albans. I offer shockwave as part of a full assessment and treatment package, so you’ll leave with a clear diagnosis and a plan – not just a session on a machine.