My aunt has plantar fasciitis in both feet. It’s bad, and she’s been receiving treatment for about 7 months now, to no effect. Her doctor finally sent her to Temple, where they’re about to stick her feet in an oscillatron, or something like that.
Anyone familiar with this, and how likely is it to be effective?
I think it is an upgraded version of the orgasmatron.
Ossatron. Concept is orthotripsy: think of it as a lithrotripsy machine turned sideways shooting shockwaves into your heel. Basic machine use cost is about $2,000 per session which lasts just a few minutes. I have heard of people literraly walking out without pain, however this is not a 100% cure.
http://www.ossatron.com
http://www.apma.org may also have additional infomration for you.
Standard surgical procedures are much more expensive and require downtime.
I am not a podiatrist or provider, but do work extensively in the medical marketplace. And no, I do not work in the sports or sports related market.
I am qualified and have done about a dozen “Ossatron” procedures. Proper terminology is extra corporeal shockwave therapy. It is similar to lithotripsy used in kidney stones. Has been approved by the FDA many years ago, but widespread use is still limited by many factors (physician training, insurance payors, etc.) in the U.S. (very common in Europe for tennis elbow, Achilles tendonitis, plantar fasciitis, etc.) Ex: Anthem does NOT pay based on 1 study by Rachel Buchbinder in JAMA. UHC almost always pays since most of “these” patients will undergoe a “surgery” anyway and on…All private payors require at least 6 months of documented failure of conservative therapy (and I usually wait at least 1 year personally).
Takes me about 16 minutes for 2,000 shocks (norm is from 1,500 to 200). Anesthesia is used (IV sedation). You will NOT nor has anyone ever walked out without pain - does not work that way (although that would be great)! If you want anymore details (as there are numerous), feel free to PM me.
Re: effectiveness. This is so far an unanswered question - there have been a few RCTs I have seen, with mixed results, but some quite effective. Haven’t seen a large enough one to convince me yet, but I do occaisionally send people for ECSWT. My guess is that it will have a long term role in this condition.
Deke