Pain due to chronic soft tissue injury of the neck and shoulder is a commonly encountered and frequently occurring condition. Traditional Chinese medicine is a common course of treatment for soft tissue injury and may have better therapeutic effects than biomedical options.

Cervical spondylotic radiculopathy is a commonly encountered and frequently occurring disease. Traditional Chinese osteopathic manipulations may have better therapeutic efficacy than that of other methods in treating patients with cervical spondylotic radiculopathy.

Objective To observe the clinical effect of pneumatically ballistic extracorporeal shockwave on chronic nonspecific low back pain. Methods 66 cases with chronic nonspecific low back pain were randomly divided into treatment group (n=33) and control group (n=33). There were 1 case drop-out in the treatment group and 2 in the control group. The treatment group accepted pneumatically ballistic extracorporeal shockwave, and the control group accepted hot magnet for 2 weeks. They were assessed with Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) and Finger-floor Distance (FFD) before and after treatment. Results The scores of VAS and FFD improved in both groups after treatment (P<0.05), and the difference before and after treatment were more in the treatment group than in the control group (P<0.05). Conclusion The pneumatically ballistic extracorporeal shockwave is more effective on chronic nonspecific low back pain than hot magnet.