Regenerative Therapy: Your Questions, Answered Straight

High-energy acoustic pressure waves delivered through the skin into the tissue underneath. The body reads that controlled stimulus as a fresh injury and reopens the healing process that stalled out. Nothing is injected and nothing is cut. It is sometimes called ESWT (extracorporeal shockwave therapy) or EPAT.

No. Those deliver far lower energy and are generally used to manage symptoms during a session. Shockwave delivers enough mechanical energy to provoke a biological response in the tissue. It’s a different category of treatment, which is also why it feels different.

No. What we do here is shockwave and EMTT. Nothing is injected and nothing is harvested. It’s called regenerative because it works by restarting the tissue’s own repair process rather than by masking the pain — but it is not an injection-based therapy, and we’d rather be clear about that before you come in than after.

Shockwave uses acoustic pressure waves and is targeted to a specific structure. EMTT uses high-energy magnetic pulses that pass painlessly through an entire joint or region, reaching depth and volume that shockwave can’t. We use them together because they do different jobs. More on EMTT here.

No. EMTT is included with every regenerative therapy program here — no line item, no decision for you to make. The two do different halves of the same job, and charging separately for the second half would mean some people quietly took a worse result to save money. Shockwave knocks on one door. EMTT wakes the whole street.

Radial energy spreads out and does its work nearer the surface. Focused energy converges at a chosen depth. A heel and a deep hip tendon are not the same problem, so they don’t call for the same tool — the real question is which one, at what depth, for what you’ve got. It matters commercially too, because the radial device is the cheaper one, so it’s what a single-machine clinic tends to own. Full explanation here, and it’s worth reading before you book anywhere.

You’ll feel a firm, deep thumping — most clients describe it as intense but tolerable, and we adjust intensity throughout. Treatment on the area lasts about 5 to 10 minutes. Some soreness for a day or two afterward is normal and is actually part of the healing response.

Most people feel nothing at all. The magnetic pulses pass straight through clothing and tissue without the thumping sensation shockwave has, so it tends to be the easy part of the visit. You stay dressed and the region is treated as a whole rather than point by point.

Usually 20 to 30 minutes door to door. The shockwave portion is the short part; the rest is assessment and the hands-on work that goes with it. Here’s what a visit looks like.

None. You drive yourself home and go back to your day. We usually ask you to avoid high-impact activity for 24 to 48 hours after each session so the healing response isn’t interrupted.

In most cases yes, with adjustments. We’d rather modify your training than stop it — but we’ll tell you honestly if continuing to load the tissue is the reason it hasn’t healed.

Clothing that gives us access to the area being treated. If you’ve had imaging — X-ray, MRI, ultrasound — bring the report. It genuinely changes the conversation.

Most conditions respond in 6 to 8 sessions, typically once a week. Longstanding or deeper problems sometimes need more. You’ll get a realistic number when we speak — before you commit to anything. How plans are built.

Many clients notice a change within 2 to 3 sessions. Because shockwave works by rebuilding tissue rather than numbing pain, the biggest improvements often continue for weeks after the final session.

When shockwave works, it works by changing the tissue, so the result isn’t on a timer the way a cortisone shot is. What it can’t do is protect you from whatever caused the problem in the first place. That’s the part your plan has to address.

That happens, and we’d rather say so now than after you’ve paid for eight sessions. If you’re not responding, we stop and reassess rather than selling you more of the same. Sometimes the answer is a different tool, and sometimes it’s a referral to someone else.

Almost always. Shockwave restarts healing; loading the tissue correctly is what makes the repair durable. You’re seeing a Doctor of Physical Therapy, so that plan comes as part of it rather than as an upsell.

For appropriate candidates it’s a well-tolerated, non-invasive treatment. The common side effects are short-lived: soreness, redness or minor swelling in the treated area for a day or two. It avoids the risks that come with injections and surgery because nothing enters the body.

Shockwave is generally not appropriate over active infection or open wounds, over a known tumor, in people on blood thinners or with a bleeding disorder, during pregnancy, or directly over growth plates in children. We screen all of this before we ever treat you. Who this is and isn’t for.

It depends on what and where, and it’s exactly the kind of thing that gets decided on examination rather than over the internet. It matters twice over here, because EMTT works with magnetic pulses, so any implanted electronic device is something we need to know about specifically. Tell us what you have and where it is when you call, and we’ll give you a straight answer before you come in.

Yes, and we do. If your problem is structural in a way shockwave can’t reach, or if the honest answer is that you need an orthopedic opinion, we’ll tell you on the first visit and point you where you should actually go. We’d rather lose the case than sell you sessions that won’t help.

Most insurers don’t cover regenerative therapies. We give you the full cost up front.

Because the honest answer depends on what you’ve got and how many sessions it needs. Ask us and we’ll tell you the whole figure on the phone, including whether we think it’s worth it in your case. You get the number in the first few minutes of the call, not at the end.

Most people do. We can give you documentation for your own records, though whether a particular plan accepts it is between you and your plan administrator rather than something we can promise on a web page.

Most commonly plantar fasciitis and heel pain, Achilles tendinopathy, knee pain and osteoarthritis, hip and glute tendon pain, shoulder pain including calcific tendinitis, tennis and golfer’s elbow, hand and wrist pain, low back and muscle pain, shin splints and calf problems, and bones that aren’t healing. See common conditions or browse by body region.

Longstanding problems are the ones shockwave is designed for. A tendon that has been painful for two years is usually a tendon whose healing process stopped, not one that’s still injured. Restarting it is the whole point of the treatment. More on that here.

Yes. Part of what you’re paying for is the examination. We’d rather work out what’s actually wrong than treat the label somebody else put on it.

Often, yes — it’s a common reason people come to us. What matters is where you are in that recovery and what was done, so it’s a conversation rather than a yes or no on a web page. Bring the operative report or the injection details and we’ll tell you whether now is the right time or whether you should wait.

No. There are clinics locally that do, and it’s a different service with different equipment and protocols. Everything we do is musculoskeletal — tendons, joints, muscle and bone.

Not usually. Many of our clients come to us after cortisone wore off. The two work in opposite directions — cortisone turns the alarm down, shockwave tries to fix what the alarm was about — which is why a shot can feel wonderful for six weeks and change nothing underneath. Bring your imaging and reports and we’ll give you a straight assessment of whether shockwave is a realistic option in your case.

Sometimes yes, sometimes no, and it depends entirely on what the surgery is for. If you have a mechanical problem that needs fixing mechanically — something torn through, something unstable — shockwave won’t fix it and we’ll say so. If the operation is being offered because nothing else has worked on a stalled tendon, that’s a different conversation and worth having before you sign anything.

They’re aiming at a similar goal by different means — shockwave provokes the healing response from outside, an injection introduces material. Cost, invasiveness and the evidence base all differ, and there are cases where an injection is the better choice. We’ll say so if yours is one of them.

No, and it isn’t a replacement for physical therapy either. Shockwave restarts a stalled healing process; rehab rebuilds capacity so it holds. Clinics that only own the device give you half of that, and clinics that only do rehab give you the other half. Why we combine them.

It’s available on top of a program, for people who want to push absorption of what the shockwave and EMTT are already doing. It is genuinely optional, most people don’t take it, and nobody needs it to get a result. Ask about it on the call if you’re curious.

861 Harold Place, Unit 307, Chula Vista, CA 91914 — just off Eastlake, with free parking directly outside the clinic. Call or text (619) 397-1391.

Yes — Kearny Mesa, at 8911 Complex Drive, Suite F, San Diego, CA 92123. Tell us which is easier for you when we speak and we’ll book you there.

Monday to Thursday, 9:00am to 6:00pm. Friday, 8:00am to 5:00pm. Closed Saturday and Sunday.

No. California is a direct-access state, so you can see a physical therapist without a physician’s referral. If we think you should see another kind of doctor first, we’ll tell you.

We call you at the time you pick. Somebody from our team asks what’s going on and what you’ve already tried, and then tells you whether shockwave and EMTT are likely to help your specific problem, what a course involves, exactly what it costs, and whether something else would serve you better — including a referral elsewhere if that’s the honest answer. And if you come in, here’s the first visit.

Call or text (619) 397-1391 and ask a person. If this isn’t right for your problem we’ll tell you on the phone, before you book anything.