Posts by DrPetzel

Short answer: If a finger or thumb clicks, catches, or gets stuck bent and then snaps straight, you may have trigger finger, a narrowing around the tendon that bends your finger. Shockwave therapy is a non-invasive, needle-free option for trigger finger, and a randomized trial found it worked about as well as a steroid injection…

Short answer: Plantar fasciitis often shows up in your 40s, 50s, and 60s because the heel has absorbed decades of steps, calves and ankles tend to stiffen, and many of us spend long days on our feet or pick up new activities like walking programs, pickleball, or running. A well-known study in the Journal of…

Short answer: The largest review of frozen shoulder treatments ever done, published in The BMJ on November 4, 2026, compared 59 different treatments across 189 randomized trials and nearly 13,000 patients. Shockwave therapy was the only treatment with moderate-certainty evidence that it reduces frozen shoulder pain in the first three months, lowering pain by about…

Short answer: Focused shockwave concentrates its energy at a precise depth, which suits deep tendon problems and calcium deposits. Radial shockwave spreads its energy over a broader, shallower area, which suits tight muscles, trigger points, and larger sore regions. Research shows both types help common conditions like heel pain, shoulder tendon pain, and neck trigger…

Short answer: If the thumb side of your wrist hurts when you lift a coffee cup, pick up a grandchild, or turn a doorknob, it may be De Quervain’s tenosynovitis, irritation of the tendons that lift and extend your thumb. Shockwave therapy is a non-invasive, needle-free option, and a 2024 review of 14 randomized trials…

Short answer: Plantar fasciitis often keeps coming back because the usual quick fixes (rest, a new pair of shoes, a cortisone shot) calm the pain without fully healing the irritated tissue where the fascia attaches to the heel bone. When heel pain returns again and again, a best-practice guide in the British Journal of Sports…

Short answer: That pebble-in-your-shoe feeling, or a burning, tingling ache in the ball of your foot, is often Morton’s neuroma (also called an interdigital neuroma)—irritation and thickening of a small nerve between the toes. Shockwave therapy is a non-invasive option studied in randomized trials for this condition, and at Adisi Health Center in Hinsdale, Dr.…

Short answer: A tender spot on the inside of your knee, a couple of inches below the joint, that hurts on stairs or when you get up from a chair may be pes anserine bursitis—irritation around the tendons and cushioning sac where three thigh muscles attach to your shin. Shockwave therapy is a non-invasive, needle-free…