This is the worst part, just like the dentist," says Dr. Rob Gordon, a Toronto orthopedic surgeon, as he jams yet another needle full of Novocaine into the right heel of Shawn Respert, a former National Basketball Association player with the Toronto Raptors.
Respert squirms uncomfortably as the freezing is injected. "I feel like a drug addict," he complains. He hasn't felt anything yet.
After both feet of his patient are numb, Gordon wheels a squat machine that resembles a mini Zamboni to the end of the table where the basketball player is lying. Time to get zapped.
Respert has returned to Toronto from the United States to receive some high powered healing for his sore feet from a machine known as an OssaTron. It is used in a relatively new form of medical treatment called shock-wave therapy and is the only one in Canada.
The machine, which has not yet been approved for use in the United States, is manufactured in Switzerland and carries a hefty $500,000 price tag.
Shock-wave therapy came to Canada only two years ago after being tested extensively in Europe. It has shown significant promise in reducing
recovery time from some of the more prevalent overuse injuries.Basically, the OssaTron emits a high energy shock wave to a specific area of the body to reduce inflammation and stimulate healing.
It is growing popular among athletes as it provides a non-surgical alternative for those suffering from chronic bone, joint and tendon disorders, such as plantar fasciitis, rotator-cuff problems and tennis elbow. It can also be used to help mend broken bones.
"This is great because it's non-operative, and I'm a surgeon, and any time you can cure somebody without an operation is good because you don't give risk to the patient," says Gordon, who practises at Etobicoke General Hospital in Toronto's northwest end. "And it has a very high success rate."
Along with Respert, who played professional basketball this past season in Italy on a team owned by Kobe Bryant of the Los Angeles Lakers, others who received treatment are former New York Ranger general manager Neil Smith, Canadian sprinter Donovon Bailley and Orlando Magic assistant coach Dave Wohl.
Eighteen months ago Jamaican hurdler Michelle Freeman was suffering from debilitating stress fractures in both her legs and doctors wanted to implant steel rods that would have ended her career.
Instead, she underwent shock-wave therapy in Toronto and this past weekend won the 100-metre hurdles at an International Amateur Athletic Federation Grand Prix event in Japan.
Respert came to Toronto bothered by plantar fasciitis in both feet. A former first-round draft choice of the NBA's Portland Trail Blazers in 1995, the 6-foot-2 guard spent part of two seasons with the Raptors before being waived in March, 1998.
He has set a goal to return to the NBA next season. "I've kind of let the ego go," the 28-year-old says. "I think for most players [turning pro] is a big transition. A lot of guys like Darrell Armstrong and Antonio Davis, they went overseas to play for two or three years after college and then came back with their game refreshed."
The breezy Gordon, 39, isn't exactly your conventional specialist. He's wearing a collarless white shirt with tennis playing cartoon characters embroidered on the front while treating Respert.
A former top-ranked Canadian junior tennis player in the 1970’s Gordon is the orthopedic consultant to Tennis Canada, the Mississauga Ice Dogs of the Ontario Hockey League and to the Jockey Club.
He said the time is coming when shock-wave therapy will be used on thoroughbred horses, but for today he will have to make do with Respert.
Taking hold of the OssaTron's rotator arm, Gordon positions the working end – a pliable rubber cone filled with water — against Respert's heel and begins firing away.
The machine is set to generate shock waves at 14 kilowatts, which is then gradually increased to as high as 19 kilowatts by the time Respert's treatment has concluded 20 minutes and some 1,500 individual shocks later.
"Let's put it this way," Gordon says. "Twenty kilowatts would be like Muhammad Ali punching you in the shoulder."
At its peak the machine can fire off four shocks a second and the sound is not unlike an amplified metronome. Toward the end of his session, Respert is in obvious discomfort. lt felt like something pulsing on the inside of your bone," he says afterward. "It was uncomfortable – very uncomfortable."
Yet Respert was still able to walkout under his own power, lighter in the pocket book by $1,500 (U.S), the fee that he is charged for his shock-wave session. Canadians are charged $1,000.
Gordon says it could take anywhere from 10 weeks to three months before Respert will learn if the session was a success. For shock-wave patients being treated for plantar fasciitis, the success rate is between 70 and 90 percent.
"And success means that they go from a pain level of eight to 10 with 10 being the worst down to about a two," Gordon says. "What's more important is that he'll be able to go back and play basketball without pain and that's the key.