While low frequency sound waves are used to create images of unborn babies and internal body structures, high frequency sound waves can help to relieve pain, calm inflammation, and encourage healing in the tissues. This is how therapeutic ultrasounds came to be used to treat muscle and joint inflammation caused by injuries or arthritis.
What are therapeutic ultrasounds used for?
Rehabilitation therapists often use ultrasound therapy to help relieve pain and reduce inflammation. Recent studies have shown that this method of treatment is especially effective for patients with rheumatoid arthritis. The results of the studies showed that therapeutic ultrasound used on the hands helped to increase grip strength, improve wrist flexibility, decrease morning stiffness, and reduce the number of swollen and painful joints.
Physical therapists also use therapeutic ultrasound when helping a patient recover from a muscular or joint injury. It helps to decrease inflammation, improve muscle flexibility, enhance the remodeling of scar tissue, encourage healing, decrease pain, and reduce swelling.
Other recent studies have also shown that ultrasound therapy has been used to aid in bone healing. For arthritis patients who suffer from bone erosion and deformities, this is good news since other bone reconstruction treatments have high risk for serious complications and side effects, but ultrasounds do not.
In addition to being used as a treatment for conditions such as rheumatoid arthritis, ultrasound therapy can also be used to help determine the progression of certain diseases. Ultrasound imaging is able to detect inflammation even when the patient is not experiencing any symptoms. This can help your doctor to form a more accurate picture of the disease and its progression, which results in better treatment options for you.
How do therapeutic ultrasounds work?
By using sound waves, ultrasound therapy works by generating heat in the joint. This helps to improve your overall blood circulation, to loosen up tissues, to allow your muscles to respond better to stretches, and to prepare your body for general activity. Ultrasound therapy can also be used with non-thermal effects. This means that no heat is generated, but it still helps to increase the blood flow which will reduce swelling and inflammation.
What happens during a therapeutic ultrasound?
When you go in to receive therapeutic ultrasound, you will probably have to remove your jewelry and most of your clothing, depending on the site of your injuries. You may have to dress in a gown and lie on an examination table. Your therapist will be using a transducer, which is a small device about the size of a bar of soap, to apply circular motions to the area that is injured or in pain. Transducers emit sound waves that bounce back, which is what helps to improve your circulation and reduce your pain and inflammation.
The goal of ultrasound therapy is to restore your muscle and joint function so that you are able to return to your daily activities without being in pain or experiencing other uncomfortable symptoms. Your therapist may also have you take other medications that will also help to reduce the pain and swelling.
