SoftWave Therapy
Non-invasive acoustic wave therapy for back, knee, shoulder, tendon and soft tissue pain, delivered with the SoftWave TRT device at MaxLiving Dunwoody inside Progressive Medical Center.
What Is SoftWave Therapy?
SoftWave is a form of extracorporeal shock wave therapy. A handheld applicator delivers low-intensity acoustic waves through the skin to the injured or painful area, with no needles, no incisions and no medication. The waves spread through a broad area of tissue rather than a single focused point, which lets a provider treat a region such as the lower back or the whole knee in one session.
At Progressive Medical Center, SoftWave therapy is delivered with the SoftWave TRT device, primarily by Dr. Brad Anchors at MaxLiving Dunwoody, the chiropractic practice inside our building. Our medical providers may also use it as part of a broader treatment plan. Either way, you are treated inside an integrative medical center, so SoftWave can stand on its own or sit alongside chiropractic care, diagnostic testing and the other therapies your care team recommends.
Sessions take 20 to 30 minutes. Most people feel some discomfort over the injured area while the applicator is working, usually mild and short-lived, and there is no downtime afterward.
Pain and Injuries SoftWave Is Used For
SoftWave therapy is used for musculoskeletal pain and soft tissue injuries, the kind that can linger for months after the original strain. The most common reasons patients come in are below. If your condition is not listed, ask at your consultation.
Back Pain
Lower back and mid-back pain, including muscular strain and pain that has not settled with rest.
Knee Pain
Pain around the knee joint, patellar tendon and surrounding soft tissue, whether from overuse, injury or wear.
Shoulder Pain
Rotator cuff strain, shoulder tendinopathy and the stiffness and ache that limit reach and lifting.
Tendonitis
Inflamed or irritated tendons at the shoulder, elbow, knee, ankle or heel.
Plantar Fasciitis
Heel and arch pain from the plantar fascia, often sharpest with the first steps in the morning.
Soft Tissue Injuries
Muscle, tendon and ligament strains and sprains, including sports injuries that keep flaring up.
Golfer's and Tennis Elbow
Medial and lateral epicondylitis, the elbow pain that comes with gripping, swinging and repetitive forearm use.
Repetitive Stress Injuries
Overuse injuries from work, training or daily routine, where the same motion keeps aggravating the same tissue.
Acoustic Waves, Delivered Where It Hurts
Shock wave therapy has been used in medicine for decades, first to break up kidney stones and later, at much lower intensities, for tendon and soft tissue conditions. The SoftWave TRT device generates each wave with an electrical spark inside a water-filled applicator head. The wave passes through a gel on the skin and into the tissue below, where it spreads outward across the treatment area.
Researchers studying low-intensity shock wave therapy look at how the mechanical energy of the waves affects the treated tissue, including local blood flow and the cellular response to the stimulus. Those effects are the basis for its use in musculoskeletal care. How much any one person benefits depends on the condition, how long it has been present and the rest of their treatment plan, which is why every course of SoftWave at PMC starts with an evaluation rather than a session.
SoftWave is non-invasive. There are no injections, no anesthesia and no recovery period. You walk in, you are treated, and you walk out.
What to Expect
From the first consultation through a full course of treatment, here is how SoftWave therapy works at Progressive Medical Center.
Consultation and Evaluation
Your first visit is a paid consultation. Your provider reviews your history, examines the painful area and talks through what has and has not helped so far. If SoftWave is a fit, you leave with a treatment plan: how many sessions, how often and what else your care should include.
The Session
A session takes 20 to 30 minutes depending on the area treated. Your provider applies gel to the skin and moves the applicator across the treatment area while the device delivers the acoustic waves. You will feel the pulses, and over the sore spot they can be uncomfortable for a moment. Most patients describe it as tolerable, and the provider adjusts the intensity with you.
After the Session
There is no downtime. You can drive, work and exercise the same day. Some patients notice soreness over the treated area for a day or so; it fades on its own. Your provider tells you what to watch for and when to come back.
A Course of Treatment
One session helps some people, but the clinical recommendation for most conditions is a course of six sessions or more, spaced about a week apart. We offer SoftWave in packages of six to match that recommendation, and your provider reassesses as the course goes on.
SoftWave Inside a Full Medical Team
Most places that offer shock wave therapy offer it on its own. At Progressive Medical Center, SoftWave is delivered by Dr. Brad Anchors at MaxLiving Dunwoody, a chiropractor with more than 25 years in practice and extensive postgraduate training in sports injuries, inside a medical center that has treated complex and chronic cases for nearly three decades.
That matters when pain does not have a single cause. Your SoftWave course can be coordinated with chiropractic adjustments, spinal decompression, infrared sauna, hyperbaric oxygen and the diagnostic testing that finds out why a tissue is not healing. Nothing is required alongside SoftWave, and nothing is combined without your provider's review.
Men's Health
SoftWave for Erectile Dysfunction
Low-intensity shock wave therapy is also studied and used for erectile dysfunction, where the acoustic waves are applied to the penile tissue and researchers look at the effect on local blood flow. At Progressive Medical Center, this application is handled by our medical providers as part of a men's health evaluation, which looks at the vascular, hormonal and metabolic causes behind ED rather than the symptom alone.
If that is what brought you here, start with our men's sexual health page, which covers the full evaluation and the treatment options, shock wave therapy among them.
Conditions Where SoftWave May Be Part of the Plan
SoftWave is one tool in a larger approach. These are the conditions on our site where it most often comes up in a treatment plan.
Therapies That Pair with SoftWave
Your provider may recommend one or more of these alongside a SoftWave course, depending on what the evaluation finds. None is required.
Chiropractic
Dr. Anchors delivers SoftWave at MaxLiving Dunwoody, so chiropractic care and SoftWave are naturally coordinated: adjustments and decompression for the structure, SoftWave for the soft tissue around it.
Learn moreJoint Therapy
For joint pain that has progressed beyond soft tissue, our medical providers offer non-surgical joint therapy. SoftWave can be part of the same plan or a step before it.
Learn moreHyperbaric Oxygen
Hyperbaric oxygen therapy is sometimes recommended for patients recovering from injury. Your provider reviews whether it fits alongside SoftWave in your case.
Learn moreSoftWave Therapy FAQ
What does SoftWave therapy feel like?
You feel each pulse as a tap or thump through the applicator. Over healthy tissue it is unremarkable. Over the injured spot it can be uncomfortable for a moment, which is part of how the provider locates the area to treat. The discomfort is usually mild and stops when the applicator moves on. Your provider adjusts the intensity with you throughout the session.
How long is a session, and how many will I need?
A session takes 20 to 30 minutes depending on the area. One session helps some people, but for most conditions the clinical recommendation is a course of six sessions or more, about a week apart. We sell SoftWave in packages of six to match that recommendation. Your provider sets the plan at your consultation and adjusts it as you go.
Is there any downtime?
No. You can drive, go back to work and exercise the same day. Some patients notice soreness over the treated area for a day or so, which fades on its own.
Is SoftWave covered by insurance?
No. SoftWave therapy at Progressive Medical Center is self-pay, with pricing per session and per package of six. Your provider goes over the cost at your consultation, before you commit to a course of treatment.
Who delivers SoftWave at Progressive Medical Center?
Primarily Dr. Brad Anchors, DC, at MaxLiving Dunwoody, the chiropractic practice inside Progressive Medical Center. Our medical providers may also use SoftWave as part of a broader treatment plan, including the men's health application.
Can SoftWave be combined with other treatments?
Yes. SoftWave can be offered on its own or as part of a comprehensive plan that includes chiropractic care, spinal decompression, infrared sauna, hyperbaric oxygen, diagnostic testing or other therapies at PMC. Your provider decides what belongs in your plan; nothing else is required to receive SoftWave.
Is SoftWave the same as the shock wave therapy used for kidney stones?
It uses the same physical principle at a much lower intensity. Lithotripsy focuses high-energy waves on a stone to break it apart. SoftWave delivers low-intensity waves that spread across a broad area of soft tissue. It does not break anything and is not painful in the way lithotripsy can be.
Who should not have SoftWave therapy?
Your provider screens for this at the consultation. SoftWave is generally not used over areas with an active infection, a tumor, an open wound or a recent fracture, over the lungs or major blood vessels, during pregnancy, or in patients with certain bleeding disorders or blood-thinning medication. Tell your provider about every condition and medication so the plan is safe for you.
How do I book?
Call (770) 676-6000, book a consultation online, or reach Dr. Anchors directly through the MaxLiving Dunwoody contact page. No referral is needed.
Ready to Try SoftWave Therapy?
Schedule a consultation with Dr. Anchors at MaxLiving Dunwoody, or with one of our medical providers, and find out whether SoftWave belongs in your plan. No referral needed.