1300 Hospital Dr #220
Mount Pleasant, SC 29464
Mount Pleasant, SC 29464
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Struggling with Knee or Shoulder Pain that won't improve?
From serious sports injuries causing tissue damage to bone issues and stiffness that comes with age, living with pain is, well, a pain. But it's more than that - it's a stressful, often upsetting way to get through your day, month, and year. Have you ever tried to get out of bed with sore, stiff knees? Most folks would rather just get back in bed. Think you might try exercising with plantar fasciitis? Don't plan on running far or doing cardio for very long. Torn rotator cuff? Without proper treatment, your life might not ever be the same.
Living with pain and the inevitable issues that come with age can seriously affect your wellbeing and happiness. Sure, you could wake up every morning and rely on addicting medications to help you move. Or, you could risk further injury and damage with invasive surgeries that require long periods of recovery and downtime. But those can't be the only two options for treatment, can they?
Fortunately, a new, natural, non-invasive treatment for pain is revolutionizing the medical industry and transforming people's lives. It's giving athletes, average folks, and people of a certain age a reason to be hopeful. It's called Softwave therapy, and unlike many fly-by-night medications and sketchy treatments, it's backed by science and provided by Elite Healthcare Physical Medicine.
If you're barely making it through the day suffering from chronic pain, this FDA-approved drug-free treatment may be for you. Softwave therapy has already been used by thousands of people around the country living with issues like shoulder pain, knee pain, and plantar fasciitis. You could be next.
Though its popularity has only grown in recent years, Softwave therapy - also known as shockwave therapy - has been around for years. In fact, the first systematic study into the benefits of shockwave therapy took place way back in 1950. So, what is Softwave therapy?
Softwave therapy is a method of treatment that works incredibly well for mobility rehab, pain relief, and full-body recovery, usually from chronic pain or injuries. Softwave therapy uses a device emitting low-energy soundwaves that target a patient's injured area. These low-intensity waves boost blood flow and kickstart your body's natural healing processes, relieving long-term pain and helping your body to heal a wide range of injuries and conditions.
The main targets in the body include bones, tendons, and other soft tissues, which are encouraged to regenerate and repair via the shockwaves. Often, shockwave therapy is used in conjunction with other non-invasive treatments like chiropractic care, which we offer at Elite Healthcare Physical Medicine. The results are often incredible, leaving patients wondering why they never tried Softwave therapy before.
Softwave therapy works especially well for:
Better Blood Flow
Collagen Stimulation
Reducing Inflammation
Kickstarting cell growth and healing factors
Breaking down build-ups of calcium
With FDA clearance, little-to-no side effects, and quick application time, Softwave therapy is a welcome alternative for people suffering from pain. Who wants to spend weeks or months recovering from a surgery that might not even work? Likewise, who would want to become dependent on over-the-counter or, even worse, prescription pain meds? Living a life of addiction is a road nobody wants to go down.
Softwave therapy represents a revolution in non-invasive pain treatment; best of all, it's highly effective. Independent studies prove that shockwave therapy helps with pain. 65-91% of patients using shockwave therapy experienced real-deal improvements in damaged muscle and bone tissue, solving their mobility problems and drastically reducing pain. It almost sounds too good to be true, but as many patients at Elite Healthcare Physical Medicine will tell you - it isn't.
Book AppointmentSome of the most common conditions that Softwave therapy treats include:
When you get up in the morning and go to the bathroom to brush your teeth, do you notice a stabbing, sharp pain near your heel? Does the pain go away once you have a chance to walk around? If so, you could have plantar fasciitis. According to the American College of Foot and Ankle Surgeons, this painful condition is quite common. About two million people suffer from plantar fasciitis every year, and almost 10% of all people will experience the condition at least once in their life.
This common foot issue happens when the plantar fascia - a fan-shaped tissue near your heel - gets inflamed. The plantar fascia is a thick strip of connective tissue that links your toes to your heel bone, helping to preserve the arch of your foot. When this band is strained, it causes intensely sharp pain, usually in the morning when you wake up and plant your feet on the floor.
Most folks ignore plantar fasciitis because the pain eventually goes away throughout the day. However, if left untreated, plantar fasciitis can lead to weakness and chronic pain, which may affect daily walking.
Some causes of plantar fasciitis include:
The short answer to this question is not really. Patients with plantar fasciitis will ice the affected area with little-to-no relief since they spend so much time on their feet. It's hard to rest an achy heel if you've got a job that requires you to be on your feet. Anti-inflammatory meds like Advil don't work all that well, either. They may provide temporary pain relief, but in terms of a long-term solution, taking these drugs will cause major side effects.
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When more conservative treatment options like ice and over-the-counter meds don't work, most doctors turn to ultra-expensive orthotics, steroid injections, or invasive surgery. For the average person, those options fail on all fronts, as they carry risks for side effects and may even cause the issue to worsen.
Instead of going under the knife or changing their daily routines, many people suffering from plantar fasciitis are turning to Softwave therapy for relief.
During a shockwave therapy session, our expert providers use a special probe to deliver pressure waves to inflamed tissue. These waves trigger natural healing processes causing new blood vessels to form. In turn, oxygen is supplied to the affected area, reducing inflammation and causing healthy cells to regenerate. Shockwave therapy also produces collagen, which is crucial for connective tissue health.
With just a few visits, many patients find long-term relief from plantar fasciitis without relying on strange drugs or harmful surgeries.
Living with knee pain is just miserable. From knee tendonitis to osteoarthritis, knee pain can prevent you from enjoying activities and affect your day-to-day life. Your knee is a joint comprised of cartilage, bone, ligaments, and fluids. Tendons and muscles within the knee help the joint move. When one of these crucial knee structures is hurt or compromised, it results in knee pain and long-lasting knee problems. This, in turn, leads to difficulty walking at best and debilitating knee issues at worse.
If you're an active person or somebody who plays sports often, you're probably all too familiar with knee pain - especially common conditions like patellar tendinopathy. Also called "jumpers knee," this issue happens at the patellar tendon, which is found on the front of the knee just under the knee cap. When living with this condition, most patients experience pain around the kneecap or lower down on the leg around the tibia.
In addition to injuries and issues like jumper's knee, everyday wear and tear will cause knee pain over time. With time, this knee pain can develop into arthritis. If your knees are swollen, painful, or stiff, you may have arthritis in your knees. Regardless of the kind of knee pain you're experiencing, treatment options have been limited to agonizing surgeries and addicting pain medications. But that all changes with shockwave therapy for knee pain in Pawley's Island, SC.
Though no two knee pain problems are exactly the same, shockwave therapy has been shown to be highly effective for knee pain. In fact, many patients at Elite Healthcare Physical Medicine find relief after just one session. Many times, sessions can be completed in as little as 30 minutes. So if you want to find relief for knee pain on your lunch break, that's definitely possible.
As is the case with plantar fasciitis, Softwave therapy works by sending sound wave and low-energy impulses to the affected area of your knee. These pulses stimulate your body's healing factors, which can help regenerate and repair damaged tendons and tissues. Softwave therapy for knee pain is especially promising for people who have tried other treatments - like surgery and pain meds - with disappointing results.
Benefits include:
Several studies and reviews prove that Softwave therapy can be very beneficial for people suffering from knee pain problems like jumper's knee. A study involving 66 patients with knee pain found that they enjoyed a significant improvement in their reported pain levels with Softwave therapy. In fact, knee pain was reduced by nearly 50% after a single month. When combined with other regenerative and physical therapy treatments at Elite Healthcare Physical Medicine, your days of living with knee pain are numbered.
Book AppointmentHere's a fact for you to consider: Every joint that you have in your body plays a part in your day-to-day life. But when we think of joint issues, we typically jump to knee issues. However, your knees aren't the only joints in your body to go through wear and tear. Your shoulders experience just as much, if not more, wear and tear than your knees. We put a strain on our shoulders just about every time we use or move our arms. Our shoulders play a pivotal part in living a normal life. When they begin to deteriorate over time due to age or overuse, it creates a litany of painful problems.
There are many causes of shoulder pain, like deterioration, inflammation, and trauma. Of the many painful shoulder conditions affecting Americans yearly, rotator cuff tendonitis and arthritis are very common. Also called calcific tendinitis, rotator cuff pain is caused by built-up calcium deposits on the shoulder's tendons, which connect your rotator cuff to nearby muscles and bones. This painful condition is usually linked to sports, like basketball and volleyball, or in professions requiring repetitive movements, like in the plumbing industry.
Some common symptoms of shoulder pain and rotator cuff tendinitis include:
Though strengthening exercises and some medications provide temporary relief for shoulder pain, they're not meant as long-term solutions. Luckily, Softwave therapy for rotator cuff pain in Pawley's Island, SC, can help.
Shockwave therapy has been shown to work wonders for shoulder pain. Low-intensity shockwaves break up calcium deposits and jumpstart your body's healing processes, stimulating blood flow and healthy cell growth. Shockwave treatment is especially effective for long-term shoulder pain since it releases stem cells, sends growth factors to the affected area, and boosts capillary production. Shockwave therapy has also been shown to break down scar tissue and eliminate trigger points, all of which decrease shoulder pain. This relief is most often long-lasting, unlike other treatments like medications and injections.
Many studies support the efficacy of Softwave therapy for shoulder conditions like rotator cuff pain and calcific tendonitis of the shoulder. In a study of 84 patients living with long-term rotator cuff tendonitis, participants in the treatment group saw a significant decrease in the intensity of their shoulder pain. Another study related to shockwave therapy for calcific tendonitis found that 86.6% of patients experienced fewer calcifications.
If you're having to live with rotator cuff pain or another type of shoulder issue, choosing Softwave therapy may be your best course of action.
Book AppointmentWhether you're sick of living with intense heel pain from plantar fasciitis, the mobility issues associated with knee pain, or the day-to-day struggles of rotator cuff degeneration, you'll find hope at Elite Healthcare Physical Medicine. Unlike some medical clinics, our team of doctors and specialists focus on an integrative, multidisciplinary approach to healing. Instead of relying on addictive medications and invasive surgeries, we prefer to address the underlying causes that our patients face.
We combine several all-natural pain relief therapies so that your shoulder pain, knee pain, joint pain, and foot pain go away for good. We resolve pain by using healing treatments that restore function and improve mobility for the long term. Our state-of-the-art regenerative medicine treatments, used hand-in-hand with proven chiropractic techniques, will stimulate your body's healing power from within. If your pain is related to muscles, nerves, and bones, our doctors can help you overcome discomfort, injury, or medical conditions affecting these systems.
If you've been unable to resolve your pain or have become dependent on painkillers to cope, Softwave therapy may be the natural solution you need. It all starts with a quick call to our office, so we can begin to understand your needs. When you come for your first visit, our doctors will find the personalized treatment you need so that you can manage your pain in a non-invasive and drug-free environment manner.
Book AppointmentItching to get out of town without spending hours on the road or in an airport? At just an 1.5-hour drive, Pawleys Island is the perfect day trip destination. Here’s our one-day itinerary.Morning Eat breakfast + hit the road early so you can spend the first part of your day soaking up some rays at the beach. Don’t forget your beach essentials before leaving...
Itching to get out of town without spending hours on the road or in an airport? At just an 1.5-hour drive, Pawleys Island is the perfect day trip destination. Here’s our one-day itinerary.
Eat breakfast + hit the road early so you can spend the first part of your day soaking up some rays at the beach. Don’t forget your beach essentials before leaving. Oh, and pack a change of clothes so that you can continue exploring the area after your time in the sand.
The Town of Pawleys Island has several public beach access areas with parking. Choose one + spend a few hours collecting shells, sunbathing, and catching some waves.
A morning at the beach will work up a healthy appetite, so head to Rustic Table for lunch. The casual yet upscale eatery offers a fresh take on Southern classics, and some of our favorite menu items include the Pawleys Island Sandwich, Steak Salad, and Blueberry Peach Sangria.
Now it’s time for a little shopping. Rustic Table is conveniently located in the Island Shops at Downtown Pawleys, so you’ll be walking distance from some can’t-miss shops like Sea Gypsy Boutique, Limeablue, Retail Therapy, The Wellness Cottage, and Driftwood Mercantile.
Bonus: If you’re in the market for a new hammock, drive to the Original Hammock Shop and explore more great businesses in The Hammock Shops Village.
If retail therapy isn’t calling your name, opt for a round of golf at a one of Pawleys’ nationally recognized golf courses.
If you left, head back to the Island Shops for dinner at Bistro 217 (brought to you by the same team behind Rustic Table and Driftwood Mercantile). Our menu recommendations? Easy — the Fried Green Tomatoes and Oysters, Hawaiian Salad, and Herb-Encrusted Grouper. If you’re in the mood for a nightcap, head to local’s favorite spot Pawleys Island Tavern.
PAWLEYS ISLAND, S.C. (WPDE) — Some residents are upset after a street in a Pawleys Island neighborhood was turned into a private road.Many said they were never informed of the change on about a 75-yard section of Heather Drive in the Hagley Estates.A petition to make Heather Drive private was filed in court back in May and recently approved by a master in equity judge.According to one nearby resident, her cul-de-sac has been cut off from Heather Drive. Many neighbors -- including the property owners association pre...
PAWLEYS ISLAND, S.C. (WPDE) — Some residents are upset after a street in a Pawleys Island neighborhood was turned into a private road.
Many said they were never informed of the change on about a 75-yard section of Heather Drive in the Hagley Estates.
A petition to make Heather Drive private was filed in court back in May and recently approved by a master in equity judge.
According to one nearby resident, her cul-de-sac has been cut off from Heather Drive. Many neighbors -- including the property owners association president – said no one was ever notified.
“It’s frustrating that we didn’t know. It’s very frustrating because that’s the route I take in and out of my house every day. If I went the other way around. It would add 6 minutes to my day every day,” said Nicole Stevenson, who lives on the cul-de-sac next to the private road.
Even the post office wasn't notified initially, which meant some residents were temporarily cut off from getting their mail.
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“My sister who is a senior and our handicapped nephew, who is mentally challenged, they have to have frequent medication deliveries and so waiting on those things was kind of frustrating,” said Susan Jeffers, who also lives on the cul-de-sac next to the private road," said Susan Jeffers.
SC code 57-9-10 requires anyone who files a petition for a road closure to post their intentions on the street and publish it in a newspaper once a week for three consecutive weeks.
The South Carolina Press Association tracks such legal notices -- and their database shows no publications were made in papers of record relating to Heather Drive.
Residents said they've informed the county council that no signs were ever posted and they've started an online petition to turn Heather Drive public again, and it's gained about 300 signatures.
“I contacted county council. I know neighbors have gone to meetings. I’ll be at the next council meeting. I’ve contacted everyone I can,” said Stevenson.
ABC15 reached out to the three parties who filed the petition to find out why they turned the road private.
Two declined to comment and one did not respond in time for this publication.
We also reached out to the Georgetown County Attorney and they responded with the following:
"Heather Drive was not closed by any action or process of Georgetown County's Administration or public services department. as a result, the county is unable to reverse this action."
The town of Pawleys Island will have a seat at the table as Georgetown County prepares a package of capital improvements to fund through a 1-cent sales tax.It took 15 minutes this week for the two members of the ad hoc Capital Projects Sales Tax Commission who represent the city of Georgetown to select Mark Hawn to fill the third municipal seat on the six-member panel.Hawn is a managing partner with EY Consulting, formerly known as Ernst & Young. He also serves on the Pawleys Island Planning Commission.“Mark is...
The town of Pawleys Island will have a seat at the table as Georgetown County prepares a package of capital improvements to fund through a 1-cent sales tax.
It took 15 minutes this week for the two members of the ad hoc Capital Projects Sales Tax Commission who represent the city of Georgetown to select Mark Hawn to fill the third municipal seat on the six-member panel.
Hawn is a managing partner with EY Consulting, formerly known as Ernst & Young. He also serves on the Pawleys Island Planning Commission.
“Mark is one of those people who will be strategic,” Mayor Brian Henry said.
The capital projects sales tax requires voter approval, and Georgetown County Council agreed in October to start the process to draft a referendum ballot for the November 2024 election. A similar tax was approved in 2014. One was defeated in 2012.
This is the first time that the town of Pawleys Island has had a representative on the commission. The process is established by state law. It gives the county three seats on the commission. The municipalities get three seats based on population.
But under the formula established by law, Georgetown is eligible for two seats, but neither Pawleys Island nor the town of Andrews is eligible for one seat. The law requires the two Georgetown appointees to fill the seat with someone from one of the other two municipalities.
Harris Chewning and Reed Tiller, the city’s appointees, met Tuesday. They went into a closed door session, allowed by the state Freedom of Information Act to discuss appointments to public bodies, and returned to vote to seat Hawn.
The town of Andrews nominated Jennifer Coleman, a reading and math interventionist at Andrews Elementary, and Victoria Fisher, who is currently not working, according to her application.
Pawleys Island Town Council nominated Hawn before the county realized that each municipality wouldn’t get a seat on the commission.
After the process became clear, Henry sent Hawn’s application to Angela Christian, the county administrator, and Georgetown Mayor Carol Jayroe. He said he was inspired by Tiller’s comment in an interview that the choice would be based on qualifications.
Pawleys Island’s population in the last census was 130. The population of Andrews was 2,275.
The town’s application was more detailed than the one used by the county. It asked Hawn about his qualifications for the sales tax committee, his interest and his related experience.
“My 40 years business career with two large, global consulting companies, was dedicated to improving organizations, governments and communities,” Hawn wrote. “I spent the majority of my career doing strategy and improvements work, all project based, which is very similar to how these types of efforts operate.”
His interest in serving “is to bring the strengths and blessings I have been entrusted with to bear for the community I live in.”
In addition to his work for the town, his experience includes serving on the boards of the Atlanta and Georgia chambers of commerce, a state reading task force in Georgia and a variety of nonprofit boards.
Asked what he could contribute to the sales tax commission, Hawn wrote about building trust and creating “the environment for change and improvement.” He also estimated that he has been involved in over 500 projects.
Henry was pleased that Hawn was selected.
“The appointee that we put forward should have an eye toward Pawleys Island, but Mark needs to have the perspective of the whole county in mind,” he said.
There are a couple of areas where Henry sees the interest of the town and the county overlapping: recycling and resilience.
The town discovered in 2019, before Henry took office, that the recycling program it started in 2010 was sending material to the county landfill because it wasn’t properly sorted. This year, residents asked the town to come up with a true recycling program.
“Recycling is an area that benefits everybody in the county. It’s an idea that’s been put forward long before I became mayor,” he said.
But Henry toured the county’s recycling facility this summer when items were piled high outside a sorting machine that was installed almost 20 years ago. He thinks an upgrade would be a worthwhile capital project.
The town has also started work to carry out a sea level adaptation study completed last year. It has $250,000 from the state and $150,000 in federal infrastructure funds to get started with drainage projects. Henry would like to get funds for a living shoreline project that would help protect the island’s roads from flooding on high tides.
The county-owned parking lot on the south end of Pawleys Island is the largest free public beach access in the county, he noted.
“People have to drive through saltwater to get to a public access. It’s an issue for Georgetown County citizens who want to come to the beach,” Henry said.
While he understands that the projects listed on the sales tax ballot need to have broad voter appeal, “even if we got a small percentage, we could put it to good use,” Henry added.
The sales tax is estimated to generate about $10 million a year. Unlike the previous capital projects sales tax, the county won’t be able to borrow money and use the tax revenue to repay the bonds because it has reached its debt limit with a $67 million bond issue to build a new jail.
In agreeing to move forward with the referendum, County Council members said the makeup of the commission was key to getting to projects that fit the financial constraints while meeting needs and appealing to voters.
The council appointed Gary Cooper, owner of Palmetto Infusion, and Ashley Nelson, senior director of the Bunnelle Foundation, who live in the Pawleys Island area, and Robert Crenshaw, who is retired from the state’s readySC job training program and lives in the western part of the county.
The council also had applications from Dan Stacy, who chaired the 2012 commission; Doug Eggiman, the former Midway Fire and Rescue chief; and Dave Philips, who is chairman of the private Willbrook Plantation Road Maintenance District. They all live in the Pawleys Island area.
There were also applications from Franklyn Nelson and Dennzon Winley, who live in the Georgetown area.
Georgetown County Board of Education: First and third Tuesdays, 5:30 p.m., Beck Education Center. For details, go to gcsd.k12.sc.us. Georgetown County Council: Second and fourth Tuesdays, 5:30 p.m., Council Chambers, 129 Screven St., Georgetown. For details, go to georgetowncountysc.org. Pawleys Island Town Council: Second Mondays, 5 p.m. Town Hall, 323 Myrtle Ave. For details, go to townofpawleysisland.com. , .
For those who love the South Carolina coast, Christina Bowman Roberts’ pottery trees bring holiday memories of Pawleys Island.Roberts remembered customers who purchased her trees for sick loved ones.“They can’t make the trip anymore so they want to give them a tree to remind them of their vacation spot,” she said.The connection with her customers keeps Roberts going.“That’s why I put all that extra detail on it,” she said.For the last five years, the self-taught pot...
For those who love the South Carolina coast, Christina Bowman Roberts’ pottery trees bring holiday memories of Pawleys Island.
Roberts remembered customers who purchased her trees for sick loved ones.
“They can’t make the trip anymore so they want to give them a tree to remind them of their vacation spot,” she said.
The connection with her customers keeps Roberts going.
“That’s why I put all that extra detail on it,” she said.
For the last five years, the self-taught potter has created beach-inspired clay tabletop trees. Made by hand in her backyard studio, Roberts’ trees sell quickly when she posts them on her Facebook and Instagram accounts.
“I don’t even own a tree, because I end up selling every single one I make every year,” Roberts said.
As of mid-November, Roberts had a wait list of 60 in her green notebook and will sculpt up to 120 trees this year. She started making them in August and will continue until all of the orders are filled, possibly through February.
A graphic designer by trade, the longtime Pawleys resident began teaching herself pottery 10 years ago.
“I can’t imagine not making pottery now, honestly, because it’s something that you’re like, every single day, you’re going to learn something completely different,” she said.
Outside of the classic Pawleys Island tree, Roberts also sculpts unique designs like mermaid tail trees and ones covered all over in seahorses or turtles.
On a rainy September afternoon, Roberts’ compact outdoor studio was a cozy respite. With a flickering apple cinnamon bun candle, a TV showing a beach scene and tools organized on pegboards, Roberts demonstrated how she creates the “sea-sonal trees,” as she called them, which take about one-and-a-half hours to make.
Starting with a pie-shaped piece of clay, Roberts decorated each with a texture pattern — like waves and dots that can represent dunes, sand or water splashing. Roberts pressed shell designs into the clay using a starfish her late father gave her and a shell her daughter found on Pawleys Island.
Then she attaches 12-18 clay Pawleys Island shells to the base, scoring both the tree and the shell to make sure they stick. This grooved shell is said to only be found on the island’s beaches and bring blessings.
Roberts poked holes in the trees so colored light from a small LED could shine through.
The illumination adds a holiday flair, though people tend to keep the trees up year round, she said. After multiple glazings and firings, the trees are ready for their new homes.
“It’s not a perfectly carved, stamped type piece. It’s a little bit gnarly like the ocean and it’s got the soft, kind of muted colors that remind you of the sand and the broken water,” Roberts said.
With all the care Roberts puts into her pieces, she likes learning where her one-of-a-kind art ends up. The trees are meant to last a lifetime, and if not, she has even replaced a tree knocked over by a customer’s dog.
“I try to make things that are heirloom quality for people. If you’re gonna spend the money on a piece of pottery … you want that person to have an emotional connection to it and want to pass it down to their kids,” Roberts said.
Christina Bowman Roberts’ artwork is sold on her Facebook page and at Sand + Sea Beach Co. near Pawleys Island. Her small pottery trees sell for $55 and the large ones for $90.
(843) 936-6238