Therapeutic ultrasound in physical therapy

When the term ultrasound comes into our mind we think of a grey-blackish paper that is used to image our internal body organs or most commonly use to see a baby in the womb of the mother but that’s the use of ultrasound and it is distinct from therapeutic ultrasound which is a treatment tool in physical therapy

 What is ultrasound?

According to biology ultrasound is a technique in which sounds are converted into an image to display internal body features but according to physics, it’s a frequency of sound which exceeds the human audacity limit which is 20kHZ. So any sound wave greater than 20kHZ fall in the category of ultrasound

What is therapeutic ultrasound?

It is a treatment tool used by physical therapists to cure pain and mobilize different parts of the musculoskeletal system. 

Diseases 

Some of the diseases which are most typically treated by physical therapists are

• Carpal Turner syndrome
• Shoulder pain including frozen shoulder
• Parkinson disease
• Shoulder pain
• Ligament traumas
• Joint tightness
• Muscle strains and tears
  Come to have your terapy

Types

Therapeutic ultrasound is most commonly divided into two categories

The thermal US therapy

In it, the temperature is raised to 40°C – 50°C for almost 5- 10 mins These are not much helpful in soft lesion treatments but some of their effects include increased blood flow, reduction in inflammation, and increased extension ability of fibers

The nonthermal US therapy

In this, a method called cavitation is used most commonly. In cavitation, energy is transmitted to body muscles. This energy, form microbubbles in the body which contract and expand promptly. It accelerates cellular processes and quick curing.

 Contradictions

US ultrasound is a very safe mode of treatment but has some exceptions such as

• Don’t let heat in the same place for a long time.
• Don’t use over wounds
• Don’t use around sexual organs and eyes
• Don’t use it on any metal object within the body
• Don’t use it around the pacemaker
• Don’t use around or on cancerous lesions
• Don’t use it on a healing fracture
• Don’t use it on growing bone
• Don’t use it on the spine if spine surgery has been done 

It is a safe and sound method for several physical malfunctions but it must be performed under a trained physical therapist. A slight increase in ultrasound timing, frequency, and range can result in injury instead of rejuvenating. If you feel unbearable heat during treatment report it to your physical therapist immediately and make sure you always choose a professional physical therapist instead of Quack.