Shockwaves and ESWT

So after a couple of weeks getting very depressed about my ankle situation and my inability to run over 10k without putting myself out of action for a couple of days, I heard about extracorporeal shock wave therapy (ESWT) from some guys at the club and Laurence booked me in for a session on Friday night.

I turned up at the clinic and the doctor took me into the treatment room. There was a huge contrast between 'magic max's' room stuck in a timewarp in the 1970's and this whitewashed clinic with its state of the art Swiss Dolorclast machine ready for action. Before starting the treatment, I was made to lie down and the doctor made an ultrasound scan of both ankles. He was able to clearly see the slight swelling in the left ankle and the liquid around the tendon where the strain had occurred. After this initial analysis he made me lie down on my front and began the treatment proper.

20 minutes of torture was about to begin. The start of the treatment involved holding my ankle and in his hand while he poked me around the tendon enquiring where the pain was greatest. Having ascertained that it was on the outside of the left ankle at the base of the calf he then reached for the Swiss Dolorclast and applied this to the tendon.

Anyone having studied a minimum of latin will realise that this ESWT machine is very appropriately named - the Dolorclast. Dolor in latin evoloving into "douleur" in French meaning pain derived from the latin verb for suffering. This machine did exactly that - I suffered intensely. The only thought that was going through my mind was that with all of this pain, it must be doing some good. There had to be some consolation as the shockwaves blast through the flesh causing very intense, localised agony. I've had more fun eating glass (*). I gritted my teeth and buried my face in the tissue covering the bench on which I was lying. How long could this last?

Just as the pain was getting really unbearable, the doctor informed me that I'd had enough. I'm glad he realised this because I'd been thinking exactly the same thoughts for 5 minutes at this point. He then applied gel to the area and wrapped up the ankle in clingfilm, telling me to leave this in place overnight to allow the swelling to subside. My ankle now looked like a knuckle of pork in the fridge, ready for roasting. I thought that he was supposed to be helping me mend and he's just explained that the bruising will be severe and that it needs gel over 12 hours to ease the swelling - great!

So more pain, less pinching and the same cost. At least this time health insurance covers the cost - a small consolation. I booked in for another session in 10 days - I'm just a glutton for punishment.



(*) kids please don't try this at home.