This Time It Was My Wrist
On the way home from work, my own wrist suddenly hurt.
No trauma. No excessive load.
Yet, a dull ache + occasional electric tingle.
Extension (bending wrist toward the back of the hand) made it worse.
Even driving home was noticeably painful.
Because this is literally what I treat every day — I knew exactly what structure is suspicious:
TFCC (Triangular Fibrocartilage Complex).
TFCC lesions are a well-described clinical entity in wrist pain.
Konradsen L, TFCC lesion review (PubMed)
I Decided to Receive ESWT
Next morning, I came to my clinic and received ESWT (Extracorporeal Shockwave Therapy) — as a patient.
Our physical therapy team is very precise and they do this every day.
As a doctor, I could do it myself.
But I wanted the real patient experience → being treated, trusting the provider, feeling the process.
How we do it (Step by Step)
- palpate → locate maximal tender point
- apply gel for proper acoustic coupling
- deliver focused shockwave onto TFCC region
That “therapeutic pain” sensation means the energy is being delivered into the correct tissue plane.
Shockwave is evidence-based for musculoskeletal pain:
Shockwave for MSK disorders (PubMed)
Improvement Timeline (Realistic)
After session #1 → I felt ~30~40% symptom relief.
But ESWT is **not** a single-shot quick fix.
Standard protocol (and what I personally follow now):
2–3 sessions/week × ≥2 weeks.
Pain pattern usually behaves like:
↓ down — ↑ up — ↓ down — ↑ up — then gradually ↓ overall.
Being the Patient Reminded Me Something Important
Having wrist pain myself made me understand patients even deeper.
Small joints can ruin the entire day.
MADI-BONE CLINIC (Gangnam, Seolleung Station)
MADI-BONE CLINIC
3rd Floor, 428 Seolleung-ro, Gangnam-gu, Seoul
Seolleung Station (Line 2), Exit 1 — ~3 minutes on foot
02-736-2626
⏰ Mon–Fri 09:30–18:30 / Sat 09:30–13:00 / Closed Sundays & Public Holidays
This article was written by the physician himself based on his own acute wrist pain episode and receiving ESWT as a real patient.
All medical contents are clinical education, not a replacement for individual medical assessment.
