Radial extracorporeal shock wave therapy alters plantar pressure distribution in chronic plantar fasciitis: a biomechanical analysis.
He Shang, Tao Ma, Yuan Wei and 6 others
PMID 41583729WHAT IT FOUND
After four weekly shock wave sessions, pressure shifted from the heel to the front of the foot on both sides in 42 people with chronic plantar fasciitis.
Pain and function were not measured, so this does not prove symptom relief.
Key findings
01After radial shock wave therapy, pressure moved from the heel to the front of the foot on both the treated and untreated sides.
02Peak pressure location, peak pressure, and mean pressure did not change significantly; contact area increased only on the untreated side.
03The study did not collect pain or function scores, so the pressure changes cannot be read as evidence of symptom relief.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for PTs
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What it does not show
There was no sham or control group, so placebo effects cannot be ruled out. The study did not measure pain or function, so it cannot show whether the pressure changes mattered to patients. Follow-up was only one month, so it does not show whether the changes lasted. All participants had unilateral plantar fasciitis, ages 18 to 60, BMI no more than 30 kg/m2, and no foot arch abnormalities, so results may not apply to bilateral cases, children, older adults, higher BMI, or feet with arch abnormalities. It was a single-center study with 42 participants, so generalizability may be limited.
Declared interests
The authors declared financial support for this work and its publication from Ningxia regional scientific and technological projects and the National Natural Science Foundation of China.
The easy way to misread this
Do not read the pressure changes as proof that radial shock wave therapy relieves heel pain or improves function. The study did not collect pain or function scores, and it had no sham control, so placebo effects cannot be ruled out.
Summarised by AI from the full paper, without a clinician reviewing it. Check it against the source before it changes what you do. Read it on PubMed →