Fig. 2

Time course of treatments of acute muscle injuries Type 1a (A–H), 2b (I–M), 3a (N–Q) and contusions (R–T) suffered by the players of an elite football team during one of the previous seasons (first/second German Bundesliga), arranged in order of increasing lay-off times. VAS scores are marked by red dots (0 = no pain; 10 = maximal pain) and the player’s status by blue dots (1 = injured; 2 = rehabilitation; 3 = training; 4 = fully fit/return to play). Diagrams A–S represent treatments with radial extracorporeal shock wave therapy (rESWT), whereas Diagram T represents treatments with focused extracorporeal shock wave therapy (fESWT). In every case Day 0 was the day of injury, and a pair of red and blue dots indicates a single treatment session. When the player’s status was 4 on the day of the last treatment, return to play was achieved on this day. In contrast, when the player’s status was 3 on the day of the last treatment, return to play was achieved on the following day. Delays in commencing rESWT/fESWT were due to away games and traveling