Objective To determine the usefulness of the radial shock waves in the lessening of pain in people with tendon pathology. Methods This is a descriptive study. Study subjects were chosen amongst the patients of a city run functional rehabilitation specialized in sports physiotherapy. Patients had to be 18 years of age or older, and should have one of the following conditions: calcified tendonitis of the shoulder, tendinitis, heel spur syndrome, lateral and medial epicondylitis. Results Of the 61 studied people, 38 (62.3 %) were men. The average age was 48.4 (ED ± 12.9). Of the several treated pathologies, the most frequent was tendinitis 29 (47 %). At the end of the treatment, on the average, the pain was reduced in 5,4 points. The magnitude of the reduction of the pain turned out to be statistically significant (p = 0.0001). The greater reductions of pain were obtained in those patients who started off with the highest initial scores in the scale of pain before the beginning of the treatment (r = 0.42; p = 0.00). Conclusions The patients with tendon pathology put under treatment with radial shock waves display a significant improvement of the pain. The greater reductions of pain were obtained in those patients who started off with high initial scores in the scale of pain.