How to Use Therapeutic Ultrasound to Treat Sports Injuries
Therapeutic ultrasound is used in physical therapy, occupational therapy and sports therapy to treat a variety of sports injuries. It speeds up the healing process using high-frequency sound waves, producing thermal and cavitational effects on the area being treated.
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Instructions
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Diagnose and Discuss
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Talk to your therapist about your sporting injury first. Until you have a proper diagnosis, you cannot be sure of how therapeutic ultrasound could help you.
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Inform your therapist about any contraindications you may have that should prevent you from receiving ultrasound treatments. If you have reduced sensation or nerve damage, you may be unable to feel the periostial pain that would indicate that the session should be stopped.
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Ask your therapist which kind of ultrasound therapy you will be receiving. Both pulse and continuous ultrasound work by sending high-frequency sound waves through your body at a frequency that will pass through tissue, bounce off bone and be absorbed by tendons, ligaments and fascia. The two kinds have different effects, however, and are used to treat different sports injuries.
Use Therapeutic Ultrasound to Treat Sports Injuries
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Use pulse ultrasound to treat inflammations such as tendinitis and bursitis. This kind of ultrasound therapy works through cavitation, transmitting vibrations that stimulate cell membranes, resulting in more rapid repair.
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Use continuous ultrasound therapy to treat muscle spasms, pain and to relax tense muscles. In this type of ultrasound, the sound waves transmitted create friction as they pass through muscle fibers, which in turn produces heat in the injured area. The body increases blood circulation to that area to cool it down, and this increased blood flow speeds up the healing process.
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Know when to stop. Ultrasound therapy does not heat up the surface of the skin, only the muscle underneath, so the therapist performing your treatment will rely on you to notice if something is wrong. If the ultrasound waves are creating too much heat, you will experience periostial pain around the bones in the area being treated. If this occurs you should alert your therapist to end the treatment session.
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Tips & Warnings
Using continuous therapeutic ultrasound produces thermal effects. Using pulse therapeutic ultrasound produces cavitational effects.
Ultrasound therapy should not be used on people with malignancies. A malignancy could be exacerbated by use of ultrasound.
People with poor circulation should also avoid this treatment. If you have poor circulation, your body will be unable to redistribute the heat created by the ultrasound therapy.
Ultrasound therapy works by heating muscles, but too much heat can result in periostial pain, which is pain in the membrane surrounding a bone. If pain is experienced, the ultrasound session should be stopped.
