Effect of eccentric exercise and shock wave therapy in patients with Achilles tendinopathy – a review of the literature

Abstract

Aim of study. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of training using eccentric exercises and shock wave therapy in people with Achilles tendinopathy. Material and methods. The available literature was analyzed based on English-language databases PubMed, Scopus, ScienceDirect, Medline and others, using the Google Scholar search engine. Twenty articles were analyzed out of 120 retrieved by the above method. Publications published up to 24/09/2023 were used, using the following keywords: Achilles tendinopathy, physiotherapy, shock wave, Alfredson protocol, eccentric exercises. Results: After analyzing the papers, it was noted that eccentric exercises based on the Alfredson protocol are effective in the treatment of Achilles tendinopathy. Shock wave therapy appears to be a mostly safe and effective form of treatment. Conclusions. Contemporary research indicates that conservative treatment methods in the form of eccentric exercises and shock wave therapy appear to be effective in the treatment of Achilles tendinopathy. Although studies on the effectiveness of using shock wave therapy are of low quality for the most part, it appears to be a safe and effective form of treatment for Achilles tendinopathy.