The island of Senja, close to Tromso, is a land where the mythical trolls forged Thor’s hammer. It was here that I learned about a potent and effective therapy in the treatment of a range of normally slow healing injuries and conditions that have proved hard to treat in the past.

After 2 years of trials, I am now in a position to make this wonder treatment available to a wide range of patients across the Torbay and beyond.

Tromso in the Arctic Circle of Norway might be a long way from our clinic in Torquay,  but a chance message from an old college friend on Facebook led me on an interesting journey which has resulted in me being able to use this therapy – ‘Shockwave Therapy’  for the benefit of my patients.

I have been a practising Chiropractor in Devon for over 20 years, I’m registered as a consultant with both BUPA and PPP healthcare insurers and am a Fellow of the Royal College of Chiropractors. Over the years the reputation of my practice (Torbay Chiropractic Clinic) has grown and we have successfully treated all manner of neck, back and spine related problems. But we, like all types of medical intervention, struggle with chronic tendonitis (inflammation of a tendon).

So began my search for the best treatment available – worldwide! And I discovered ExtraCorporeal Shockwave Therapy (based on lithotripsy, the treatment for kidney stones). It uses state of the art Swiss medical equipment to generate a powerful pulse of energy, which literally vibrates the damaged and scarred tendon, ligament or muscle tissue back into health.

This treatment has been available in Harley Street and top London private hospitals and is literally changing the lives of hundreds of sufferers. It’s benefits are enormous – no surgery, no anaesthetic and no medication required.

It tackles difficult problems such as plantar fasciitis (also known as joggers heel or heel spur), achillestendonitis (pain and swelling in the Achilles tendon), infrapatellar pain (also known as jumpers knee), frozen shoulder (pain and stiffness in the shoulder) etc. with ease, and our clinic is one of a select few which is recording data for a NICE guideline database to get even better access for this wonderful life changing treatment.

We have also decided to invest money and training into in house ultrasound scanning which gets us to the millimetre of the scar tissue and charts progress treatment by treatment producing a much better result.

I have found the Shockwave therapy a life changing treatment and significantly compliments my view of healthcare as a chiropractor. It has helped our clinic, and my colleagues, to be at the forefront of pain relief, and I am proud it is happening in Devon.

We currently treat local NHS patients at a fraction of the price it can be provided elsewhere in the country because we believe this treatment should be available to more people.

We believe that this is the future of chronic soft tissue pain, and it will reduce the overuse of steroid injections into already weakened areas, saving both time to recovery and the need for complex surgery which costs the health service considerable resources.

Ian Vasey.

For more information, have a look around our website or give us a call on 01803 329799 at the Torbay Chiropractic Clinic.