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ESWT has been used in human medicine for a number of years to treat a variety of orthopaedic conditions such as tennis elbow and Achilles tendonitis.

The technique has been used more recently in equine orthopaedics to treat conditions such as proximal suspensory desmitis, suspensory branch injuries, tendon injuries, collateral ligament desmitis, carpal valgus in foals, and kissing spines.

The shockwaves are created, emitted and directed onto the injured area. When the shock waves meet interfaces of different impedance (i.e. bone/soft tissue interface) changes within the tissue are created. These include an increase in blood flow, direct cellular effects, activation of osteogenic factors (the process of laying down new bone) and a direct analgesic effect.

The treatment can be useful in cases of both acute injury and chronic pain that have been refractory to conventional treatment and typically involves three treatments at 7-14 day intervals.