I've been seeing local ads here in Calgary lately in my social media feeds promoting single-intervention approaches as a magic fix for a variety of issues like chronic back pain, headaches, arthritis, etc. and it's been bothering me!
Interventions such as prolotherapy, shockwave, and so on are definitely useful and there is emerging evidence supporting their use, but they aren't meant to be administered in isolation.
When it comes to complex, chronic issues, all possible contributing factors need to be addressed. Unless there is a massive placebo effect a tunnel vision approach won't cut it.
This kind of marketing is irresponsible, and sets people up to be let down. This is the last experience someone who has been dealing with a long-term problem needs.
These practitioners have good intentions but likely have a limited depth of knowledge when it comes to complex and chronic pain. If it sounds too good to be true, it usually is. This is why we take a holistic approach with physiotherapy for chronic pain.