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.
Book AppointmentWhen 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 worst.
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 West Ashley, 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 West Ashley, 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.
Book AppointmentA sandwich chain that's operated in South Carolina for more than 80 years has added a West Ashley stop.Groucho’s Deli, led by Max Miller — the great-grandson of founder Harold “Groucho” Miller — opened at 975 Savannah Highway in St. Andrews Shopping Center.Miller has been working for the family business since growing up Columbia, wh...
A sandwich chain that's operated in South Carolina for more than 80 years has added a West Ashley stop.
Groucho’s Deli, led by Max Miller — the great-grandson of founder Harold “Groucho” Miller — opened at 975 Savannah Highway in St. Andrews Shopping Center.
Miller has been working for the family business since growing up Columbia, where his grandfather opened the first restaurant in 1941 in the Five Points area.
“When I was 12 years old, I remember my dad used to pull a bar stool up and set me in front of the cash register,” Miller said.
After attending the College of Charleston, he opened his first Groucho’s Deli in Mount Pleasant in 2020.
The West Ashley outpost is Miller's second franchise, co-owned by Nick Basile, a lifelong friend and the former manager of the Five Points Groucho’s.
“He and I worked there almost every day in high school,” Miller said.
The West Ashley shop renews Groucho's presence in Charleston after the downtown location at 364A King St. closed in 2022 after 20 years. The franchise owner stated he had been priced out of the market.
Another Groucho’s Deli opened in Summerville in 2017 and is still going strong and another is in Mount Pleasant.
The deli, known for its “dipper” subs, large salads and signature “Formula 45 Sauce, was first franchised in the early 2000s by Bruce Miller, the third generation to operate the restaurant. The chain has grown to 32 locations in three states, with about three new stores added a year.
The count has come far since its namesake founder to Columbia in 1941 after spending his childhood in a Philadelphia orphanage with "a handful" of original recipes for potato salad coleslaw and dressings for salads and sandwiches.
The city of Charleston's long-established West Ashley suburb continues to be a draw for buyers and renters seeking a slice of Lowcountry living.From 2020 to 2025, city officials estimate the area's population grew 6 percent to almost 72,000 — and that's only counting the incorporated sections. The boom is more than double the 2.8 percent population increase nationwide during the same time period.On average, South Carolina has gained about 360,579 residents a year from April 2020 through July 2024, or about 90,000 a year, ...
The city of Charleston's long-established West Ashley suburb continues to be a draw for buyers and renters seeking a slice of Lowcountry living.
From 2020 to 2025, city officials estimate the area's population grew 6 percent to almost 72,000 — and that's only counting the incorporated sections. The boom is more than double the 2.8 percent population increase nationwide during the same time period.
On average, South Carolina has gained about 360,579 residents a year from April 2020 through July 2024, or about 90,000 a year, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
But the West Ashley rush isn't slowing down. An estimated 6,000 housing units are in the works, with many of them expected to come online within the next year. And all are within a 5-mile drive, led by the long-delayed Long Savanna development.
The projects come in addition to existing major multifamily developments along the same corridor, like the 1,400-home Grand Oaks Plantation, built in the late 1990s; Hunt Club, built in the early 2000s with about 500 residences; and the 1,800-home Carolina Bay development off Glenn McConnell Parkway.
There's also the recently wrapped Grand Bees and the 394 apartments at Aventon Bees Ferry.
Heading down Bees Ferry, along Glenn McConnell Parkway and right on Henry Tecklenburg Drive, here's where the bulk of new single-family, townhomes and apartments will be built.
The Bellerose at Bees Ferry apartments are are almost wrapped at 3029 Stonecrest Drive, at the corner of Bees Ferry Road.
Plans for the new Storia neighborhood call for 155 three-bedroom townhomes, pool, on-site dog par, open-air pavilion and walking paths.
Proposed rendering of Ashley Landing site (Edens).WEST ASHLEY, S.C. (WCIV) — In West Ashley, city leaders and developing company Edens, plan to break ground on the Ashley Landing Shopping Center revitalization project next week.READ MORE| ...
Proposed rendering of Ashley Landing site (Edens).
WEST ASHLEY, S.C. (WCIV) — In West Ashley, city leaders and developing company Edens, plan to break ground on the Ashley Landing Shopping Center revitalization project next week.
READ MORE| Charleston unveils $300M redevelopment plan for West Ashley's Sumar Street site
Construction fencing is now present around the old Big Lots building as the project prepares to go underway.
This development is years in the making, and was officially approved by the Charleston City Council in September 2024. Following approval, Edens obtained ownership of the approximately 35-acre parcel of land, included the lot on Sumar Street, where Piggly Wiggly once stood.
The development company now aims to build a new town center for the community to enjoy, with a variety of renderings public on its website.
Charleston City Councilmember for District 9, William Tinkler, says he thinks this is the largest investment in West Ashley's history, with the city pledging $45 million, and Edens contributing $300 million.
“It's really good that they're giving back to the community here in West Ashley," says Bubba Walkins, who grew up in the area.
READ MORE | Charleston City Council pushes forward with major redevelopment on Sumar Street
Tinkler says the public funds will be focused on infrastructure.
"The city's got some projects planned on Old Towne Road that are going to lead to some traffic infrastructure there that I think is going to benefit," he said.
Edens is required to conduct a traffic impact study for the project, and Charleston County will also be looking to make improvements on Sam Rittenberg Boulevard and Old Towne Road.
Nine acres of storm water retention will be built underneath the property to help with flooding in the area.
Tinkler says ensuring available affordable housing is also a focus.
"One of the benefits of this project is to be able to provide housing, and housing that those folks can afford." Tinkler says a certain portion of housing created will be workforce housing.
The public is invited to attend the ground-breaking on Wednesday, May 7, at 10 a.m.
A West Ashley gym will power down for good next month, leaving customers crushed.O2 Fitness at 1119 Wappoo Road sent an email to members at 2 p.m. April 18, stating, "our lease terminates at the end of May and we have been unable to find a path forward to maintain."The final day is May 31 with the closure time scheduled for 7 p.m.The gym anchors the Ashley Oaks Plaza, situated in the middle of a grou...
A West Ashley gym will power down for good next month, leaving customers crushed.
O2 Fitness at 1119 Wappoo Road sent an email to members at 2 p.m. April 18, stating, "our lease terminates at the end of May and we have been unable to find a path forward to maintain."
The final day is May 31 with the closure time scheduled for 7 p.m.
The gym anchors the Ashley Oaks Plaza, situated in the middle of a group of tenants that include West Ashley Hardware/TrueValue, Los Reyes Mexican Restaurant, Kings Sushi, Lavish Nail Salon, Ultratan and newly added Sharkey’s Cuts for Kids.
"As a local company born and raised in the Carolinas, with roots in Charleston going back 25 years, this is a disappointing situation," the email said.
The Raleigh-based fitness chain first opened the West Ashley location in January 2019.
The gym was one of three workout centers, including Daniel Island and Moncks Corner, to replace existing facilities O2 inherited after its purchase of the former East Shore Athletic Club's Charleston-area operations in 2013.
"These three upgrades, along with the addition of our beautiful James Island club late last year, help showcase our commitment to providing the Charleston-area with first-class fitness facilities,” O2 Fitness founder and CEO Michael Olander previously told The Post and Courier.
Memberships to the West Ashley location remain active at O2 Fitness on Folly Road, with no action required, the company said.
The chain operates 19 fitness centers, mostly in North Carolina.