Have you ever heard of shock therapy for back pain? Do they shock the brain or the back? How is it done?

You may be referring to a form of therapy that causes oscillating or vibrational pressure at low frequencies to the muscles on either side of the spine. The type of shock therapy to the brain is something different altogether. Shock wave therapy for the back/spine is also called vibrotherapy. This is a technique used more often outside the United States.

In the United States, you are more likely to find ultrasound (another form of vibrational frequencies using sound waves) in use. The intention behind both of these vibrational therapies is to increase blood circulation, improve soft tissue stretch, reduce pain and stiffness, and speed up healing. Other potential effects of shock wave and ultrasound therapy may include enhanced cellular metabolism, muscle relaxation, and increased trunk/spinal motion.

But before you get too excited about this as a potential new and improved treatment, you should be aware of a recent report from Spain. Researchers from Spain take a look at the effectiveness of shock wave therapy and ultrasound in the treatment of both acute and chronic back pain.

They conducted the study as a systematic review. This means they searched all the currently published literature looking for studies on either of these two treatment methods. They found a total of 13 studies but only four randomly controlled trials.

The reported results then are based on the experiences of 252 patients. Various treatment methods were used and compared with ultrasound and shock wave therapy such as lumbar traction, low power laser, electrical stimulation, and spinal manipulation. Here’s a summary of the results: