Image commercially licensed from Unsplash
Dr. Alan Shih, Founder of Head to Toe Healthcare, PLC in Tucson, Arizona, will be attending the 25th World congress of the International society for Medical Shockwave Treatment in Daegu, South Korea from July 21-23 to expand his knowledge on shockwave therapy, so he can better integrate the treatment into Head to Toe Healthcare, allowing for state-of-the-art treatment options for his patients.
The symposium will feature keynote lectures from doctors around the world who will speak about theoretical, experimental, clinical and multiple contributions in both advanced fundamental and applied knowledge of shockwave treatment.
Dr. Shih is attending the conference to learn more about the benefits of shockwave therapy and how he can use it more effectively at Head to Toe Healthcare, where he already offers the progressive treatment. He says the therapy has many potential uses as an alternative to surgery or traditional treatments.
According to Dr. Shih, traveling internationally to further expand his knowledge as a doctor is something that is uncommon for doctors in the United States. He says there are medical treatments around the world that aren’t truly used in the U.S., and some of those treatments have been in mainstream use for decades in places such as Europe & Asia. While lithotripsy is commonly performed in the states for the treatment of kidney stones, shockwave can be used to treat multiple leg and foot conditions, erectile dysfunction, and even Alzheimer’s disease.
This is Dr. Shih’s second time attending the conference, the first time he attended it really opened his eyes to new possibilities that shockwave therapy could have within the medical field. This includes the use of shockwave during open heart surgery to strengthen an active beating heart, an option that hasn’t been adapted in the states yet. It made him take a step back and think, “if it can be used directly on the heart, then what else could it be used for? Americans like to think the United States is a step ahead of the rest of the world when it comes to both our technology and medical practices. This however, is not always true and does not mean we are the best at everything so we should not become stagnant in our search for knowledge.”
Throughout his career, Dr. Shih has found that alternatives to conventional treatments are uncommon in the United States. However, they are becoming more popular and accepted in recent years due to patients themselves becoming more aware of their options. Going to the conference to learn more about shockwave therapy will enable him to provide a more robust new age treatment plan for his patients. The shockwave therapy only takes about 15 minutes for each session and avoids the need for using anesthesia, a requirement for undergoing surgery.
Patients who choose shockwave therapy are able to continue walking immediately after treatment and can resume their normal daily activities. Dr. Shih says his patients have reported feeling immediate pain relief following treatment, and it is more cost effective than surgery with no down time and without the risks of surgery.
“I’m always seeking to learn more and keep pushing the limits of what I know, so I can provide my patients with more options that are cost effective and don’t require surgery,” says Dr. Shih. “It’s super exciting to see all the things in the medical field that are becoming available, and how they are more accessible.”
