More about ultrasound therapy
In physiotherapy, therapeutic ultrasound is used for deep tissue heating and other non-thermal treatments. Importantly, therapeutic ultrasound should not be mistaken for diagnostic ultrasound, which is used in diagnostic medicine to examine malignant pathologies and other conditions of the body’s internal organs. In physiotherapy, therapeutic ultrasound is used within the framework of the deep heating method to achieve higher endogenous soft tissue temperatures that enhance the healing of micro-injuries and local blood circulation.
How does ultrasound therapy work?
Ultrasound therapy works on the principle of mechanical and thermal treatment of tissue and is highly effective in the therapeutic treatment of many neuromuscular pathologies. Alongside the thermal effects of therapeutic ultrasound, it also has non-thermal healing effects through the additional energy it delivers to the body. The process is termed cavitation, and it involves an expansion of the volume of bubbles around the tissue to which the therapeutic ultrasound is applied, which improves the natural healing of the injured tissue.
Ultrasound therapy is used to treat acute conditions or injuries of the musculoskeletal system, chronic diseases as for instance arthrosis, arthritis, osteoarthritis, frozen shoulder syndrome or adhesive capsulitis, spondylosis, spondylolisthesis, spondylitis, bursitis and tendinopathies or tendonitis.
Treatment of your injury with ultrasound therapy is conducted non-invasively, with changes occurring mainly at the cellular level. You will experience a mild warming and tingling sensation adjacent to the area where the ultrasound therapy is applied. During therapy, the physiotherapist is gently circling the ultrasound head, moving it continuously in a circular direction.
Who is ultrasound therapy suitable for?
Any patient who has a soft tissue injury present in the body is a candidate for ultrasound therapy. Ultrasound therapies greatly relieve back pain, neck pain, and irritated meniscus in the knee joint. Ultrasound therapy is also frequently used in the treatment of ligamentous ankle injuries arising from ankle sprains or from impacts to the ankle.
