Muscle or Tendon Pain? EPAT Can Help

There are few things that can affect your well-being as negatively as limited mobility. If you’ve tried everything for muscle or tendon pain in your feet and ankles — from ice to over-the-counter pain meds to rest — and nothing has worked, you may be wondering if you’ll ever get back to your normal activities again.

The podiatry team at Premier Foot & Ankle has adopted an innovative treatment for just this type of pain, which afflicts many of our patients. The treatment is called EPAT®, and it stands for Extracorporeal Pulse Activation Treatment. 

The therapy can treat muscle or tendon pain in the feet or ankles that’s acute or chronic, and it’s been an absolute game changer for our patients suffering from these conditions. 

How does EPAT work?

EPAT is a form of shock wave therapy, and it encourages your body to circulate your blood more efficiently, helps energize your metabolism, and fuels healing by helping your damaged tissue regenerate.  

For treatment, your doctor first applies what’s known as a coupling agent to the skin of the area you’re feeling pain. This agent is a gel that helps make a good connection between your body and EPAT’s handheld device. 

Then your provider moves the applicator in a circular motion on the treatment area. As the applicator is applied, high-energy sound waves are delivered to the injured area. 

While some patients have reported immediate relief, it can take up to four weeks to begin experiencing relief. To experience the full benefits of EPAT, most patients need 3-5 treatments at weekly intervals. At the conclusion of treatment, most patients say they’re pain-free or have a significant reduction in pain.

EPAT has many advantages

Not only is the EPAT system state of the art in terms of technology, it also offers a multitude of patient-friendly features. The treatment is:

• Safe
• Painless
• FDA-approved
• Quick (usually around five minutes)
• Noninvasive (no incisions or risk of infection or scarring)

Furthermore, no anesthesia is needed with EPAT, and no downtime is required either.

Aside from EPAT’s remarkable success rate in treating many conditions, you can put your full weight on your feet immediately after treatment. We treat many foot and ankle conditions, including plantar fasciitis, achilles tendonitis, and heel pain with great success using EPAT. 

To learn more about EPAT and to see if it can help you, book an appointment over the phone with Premier Foot & Ankle today.