StemWave Therapy (ESWT) is a non-surgical, non-invasive treatment for chronic pain. It uses supersonic sound waves to trigger mechanotransduction, reducing inflammation and activating mesenchymal stem cells to regenerate damaged tissue in areas like the shoulder, knee, spine, and feet. It’s highly effective, and stimulates structural healing without downtime.
If you are reading this, you might know the frustration of chronic pain. Whether it is the sharp, restricting ache of a frozen shoulder or the dull, grinding throb of knee arthritis, chronic pain has a way of stealing your active life. You want to move, play, work, and sleep normally, but your body just won’t cooperate. You’ve likely tried creams, pills, and everything else, and you are left with the exhausting feeling that you’ve “tried everything.”
For 25 years, we have been successfully treating chronic pain here at Orlando Acupuncture. With acupuncture therapy, we have achieved a success rate of better than 90% in most cases. So, a question we often get is, If acupuncture is already so successful, why did we bring a technology like StemWave into the clinic to treat pain?
The answer is simple: StemWave offer faster, and more focused treatment, that takes less time from our patients and is often less expensive than other solutions.
StemWave therapy, also known as Extracorporeal Shockwave Therapy, or ESWT, is a revolutionary, non-surgical option for pain that complements other treatments. This post explains exactly why we added it, the science behind how it works, and what you can expect from treatment.
Why do People Try StemWave Therapy (ESWT)?
The 4 Reasons We Added StemWave Therapy to Our Clinic
While acupuncture is incredible for treating and balancing the whole body, StemWave has some advantages for specific types of patients and conditions. Here are the main reasons we brought it into the practice:
Reason #1. The Time Factor
Let’s face it, the only thing people want more these days than most people want these days than real, lasting results is a minimal time commitment. StemWave is incredibly efficient and easy to fit into anyone’s schedule. Most treatments are completed in 15 minutes or less, and for most cases, treatment frequency averages about once per week. This allows us to get lasting results with short treatment times.
Reason #2. Focus on One or Two Specific Areas
The main idea of Chinese medicine and acupuncture is to balance and heal the entire body. We look at what is out of balance, and systemically bring it back into harmony. This allows us to treat the whole body and specialize in complex, multi-layered cases, and why we so often see what we call “happy side effects”, when symptoms seemingly unrelated to what is being treated improve during treatment.
However, some patients simply want to treat One specific pain: such as their elbow, their shoulder, or their knee. StemWave therapy allows us to focus entirely on one area of the body and still deliver deep restorative healing.
Reason #3. Zero Needles, Zero Fear
For some, the very idea of needles can be scary. Even though the style of acupuncture we use at Orlando Acupuncture, Distal Needle Acupuncture (DNA) is painless for most patients, we wanted a solution for people prefer a needle-free therapy. StemWave therapy is 100% non-invasive. The device is applied right on the surface of the skin. The sensation felt during treatment is most often described as feeling like a deep massage. So no needles, no fear, no downtime, and no worries.
Reason #4. Immediate Feedback
One of the most empowering aspects of StemWave is that most patients know right away if it is going to work for them. After your very first session, most patients will feel or see an immediate difference. Either less pain, or an improved range of motion. This means that you don’t have to wonder if the therapy will work for you.
How Does StemWave Therapy Relieve Chronic Pain?
The biggest difference between StemWave and other therapies is that it does not simply mask pain. It does not just numb the area; it actively stimulates and activates very specific healing processes in the body.
The treatment works through a biological process called mechanotransduction. This means it converts a mechanical signal—literally a supersonic pressure wave that penetrates deep into the body—into a biologic healing response.
Here are the exact effects of StemWave therapy at the cellular level:
It Quiets the Nerves (Pain Relief): StemWave therapy reduces the activity of voltage-gated sodium channels, which are the nerve channels responsible for transmitting pain signals. This effectively “quiets” the nerves, and minimizes pain while the tissue heals.
It Shifts the Immune Response (Reduces Chronic Inflammation): Inflammation is necessary for acute healing, but chronic inflammation prevents injuries from recovering. StemWave encourages macrophages (immune cells) to transition from M1 (the “inflammatory” macrophages that clean up damage) to M2 (the “repair” macrophages that calm inflammation and promote tissue rebuilding). This shifts your body from an inflammatory state into a regenerative state.
It Builds New Blood Vessels (Angiogenesis): StemWave therapy activates angiogenesis (the growth of new blood vessels) and optimizes nitric oxide signaling. This creates better blood flow in existing vessels, delivering vital oxygen and nutrients directly to the damaged tissue to set the stage for repair.
It helps Nerves Heal and Regenerate: StemWave therapy stimulates Schwann cells, which are vital for healthy nerve function. This creates a neurogenic response, encouraging actual nerve healing and regeneration.
It Recruits Stem Cells: True to its name, StemWave therapy has been clinically found to recruit mesenchymal stem cells. These are undifferentiated cells that have the incredible ability to replace and repair almost any type of structure in the body. This includes ligaments, tendons, cartage, and bone.
See StemWave in Action!
How Long Does StemWave Therapy Take to Work?
What to Expect from treatment
Even though most patients experience almost instant reductions in pain and improvement in range of motion from StemWave therpay, regeneration is a biological process that takes time. The healing is not instant, and it is not meant to be a one-time therapy. With StemWave, each treatment builds on the last and creates momentum that builds to produce lasting, structural healing.
A minor or acute injury might only take a few treatments, but most chronic conditions (like frozen shoulder or knee arthritis) typically require 8 to 12 sessions. Here is what that the healing timeline usually looks like:
Visits 1 through 4: These visits are often done twice per week.During this time, you should start to see a modest improvement—typically a 10% to 15% reduction in pain that may last for a few hours after treatment. However, more than half of the patients who have tried StemWave therapy at Orlando Acupuncture experienced a more significant improvement after their very first session.
Visits 4 through 7: This is where the regenerative effects become cumulative. Because the inflammation has reduced, we can typically reduce your visit frequency from twice a week down to once a week.
Visits 8 through 12: This is when we see the lasting, structural improvements in the damaged tissue that bring the lasting changes people are looking for.
One Goal: Regeneration and Healing, Not Just Temporary Relief
Just like acupuncture, the ultimate purpose of StemWave therapy is regeneration—not just temporary pain relief. Treatments designed only to reduce symptoms act like a band-aid. StemWave’s primary goal is to promote regeneration by activating specific biologic healing mechanisms in your body. Through mechanotransduction, improved nerve repair, reduced inflammation, stem cell recruitment, angiogenesis, and tissue remodeling, your body can repair pain and damaged tissues naturally.
Remember StemWave therapy is not simply to help you feel better today. It is designed to help your body heal in a way that provides stronger tissue, better function, reduced pain, and more time doing and enjoying the activities you love!
Q: How does StemWave work?
FAQ:
A: It uses acoustic pressure waves to quiet pain, regenerate nerves, improve blood flow, and activate stem cells to regenerate tissue naturally.
Q: Does StemWave use needles or cause pain?
A: No. It is 100% non-invasive and needle-free, feeling similar to a deep-tissue massage.
Q: How long does a treatment take?
A: Sessions take 15 minutes or less, and are typically done once per week.
Q: How many sessions will I need?
A: Minor injuries may require 4-6 sessions, while chronic pain typically requires 8–12 treatments. Many structural issues will benefit from ongoing maintenance care that is curated to each individual, but averages about once per month or less.
Written by Dr. John Barnett, MATCM. Licensed Acupuncturist with over 25 years of experience helping patients reduce chronic pain without surgery at Orlando Acupuncture