Introducing Therapeutic Ultrasound
Therapeutic Ultrasound therapy is most often employed in sports medicine to stimulate cell growth and accelerate the healing process. It’s even useful for helping along fractured bones.
Therapeutic Ultrasound has a frequency range of 0.75–3 MHz, at a frequency of 1 MHz is absorbed primarily by tissues at a depth of 3–5cm and is therefore recommended for deeper injuries and in patients with more subcutaneous fat. A frequency of 3 MHz is recommended for more superficial lesions at depths of l–2cm. The transmission of ultrasound waves causes the surrounding tissues, particularly those that contain collagen, to vibrate. This increased vibration produces heat within the tissue. In most cases this cannot be felt by the patient themselves.
One of the greatest proposed benefits of Ultrasound therapy is to reduce the healing time of certain soft tissue injuries:
Therapeutic Ultrasound is thought to accelerate the normal resolution time of the inflammatory process by attracting more mast cells to the site of injury. This may cause an increase in blood flow which can be beneficial in the sub-acute phase of tissue injury;
Ultrasound may also stimulate the production of more collagen- the main protein component in soft tissue such as tendons and ligaments.
Musculoskeletal conditions can benefit from Therapeutic Ultrasound therapy
- Soft tissue injuries.
- Chronic strains and sprains.
- Myositis – the inflammation of muscle tissues.
- Bursitis – inflammation of the fluid-field pads surrounding joints.
- Tendonitis – inflammation of the tissue connecting the muscles to the bones.
- Tendon Sheath Inflammation.
- Osteoarthritis – the wearing down of tissues at the end of the bones.
- Plantar fasciitis.
- Muscle spasm.