The dosage of intensity and frequency for ultrasound therapy varies depending on each case, but it’s mainly used as part of a physical therapy program especially in the following cases: Contracture of muscle, tendon and fascia; which is the abnormal shortening and loss of elasticity, such as with plantar fasciitis
Full Answer
What is ultrasound used for?
Ultrasound is often used to provide deep heating to soft tissue structures in the body. Deep heating tendons, muscles, or ligaments increases circulation to those tissues, which is thought to help the healing process. Increasing tissue temperature with ultrasound is also used to help decrease pain.
What happens during an ultrasound treatment?
While receiving an ultrasound treatment, you will most likely not feel anything happening, except perhaps a slight warming sensation or tingling around the treatment area. If the ultrasound sound head is left in place on your skin and not moved in a circular direction, you may experience pain.
Is ultrasound the only treatment I need for my condition?
Ultrasound should not be the only treatment that you receive for your condition. In general, your rehab should focus on active movements like exercise. Passive treatments, like ultrasound, should not be the only treatment you receive during your rehabilitation.
What is the role of ultrasound in the treatment of fracture?
Some ultrasound therapy methods have uncertain, possibly multiple mechanisms, including skin permeabilization for drug delivery and low-intensity pulsed ultrasound, which can accelerate the healing of bone fractures.
What is ultrasound therapy used for?
Ultrasound physical therapy is a branch of ultrasound, alongside diagnostic ultrasound and pregnancy imaging. It's used to detect and treat various musculoskeletal issues you may have including pain, tissue injury, and muscle spasms.
What is ultrasound surgery?
Abstract. Focused ultrasound surgery (FUS) is a noninvasive image-guided therapy and an alternative to surgical interventions. It presents an opportunity to revolutionize cancer therapy and to affect or change drug delivery of therapeutic agents in new focally targeted ways.
Which ailment can be treated using ultrasound?
Relief of Motor Symptoms. The FDA has approved the use of focused ultrasound for treatment of tremor-dominated Parkinson's disease.
How does ultrasound work for injuries?
Ultrasound is also thought to improve cellular function by making microscopic gas bubbles near your injury expand and contract rapidly, a process called cavitation. This expansion and contraction are thought to speed up the healing process in your injured body part.
What is ultrasound therapy for fibroids?
Focused ultrasound energy is used to heat fibroids until the tumor is ablated. MR imaging is used to target the fibroid and to monitor successful therapy. The treatment takes about 3 hours, has few side effects, and allows the patient to return to work in a few days.
Why is ultrasound used in the field of medical science?
Diagnostic sonography (ultrasonography) is an ultrasound-based diagnostic imaging technique used to visualize subcutaneous body structures including tendons, muscles, joints, vessels and internal organs for possible pathology or lesions. Sonography is effective for imaging soft tissues of the body.
Does ultrasound work for arthritis?
Ultrasound imaging can detect inflammation in your joints, even if you don't have noticeable symptoms. This can help your doctor form an accurate picture of your condition and provide more effective and targeted treatment.
Can ultrasound be used for healing?
Therapeutic ultrasound is often used by physiotherapists to reduce pain, increase circulation and increase mobility of soft tissues. Additionally, the application of ultrasound can be helpful in the reduction of inflammation, reducing pain and the healing of injuries and wounds.
Is ultrasound good for rheumatoid arthritis?
Abstract. Background: Ultrasound is often used, by rehabilitation specialists, as an adjunct therapy for the symptomatic treatment of rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Its mechanical energy has antiinflammatory as well as analgesic properties.
Is ultrasound good for knee injury?
Ultrasound, commonly used to image the inside of the body through soundwaves, can also be used at higher intensities to relieve pain,2 promote healing, and reduce swelling. Clinicians currently use ultrasound therapy for knee pain, treating it for several minutes a few times a week in the office.
How does ultrasound treat tendonitis?
It uses ultrasound imaging to view the affected area and to remove the damaged tissue that causes the pain. Removing the damaged tissue allows the tendon to heal properly and relieves the pain. An ultrasound is sound waves with frequencies higher than the upper limit of human hearing.
How does ultrasound help scar tissue?
One of the many benefits of ultrasound therapy is breaking up scar tissue caused by injuries or surgery. Scar tissue can cause pain and restrict joint movement. Ultrasound helps by using high-frequency sound waves to break the fibres of the scar tissue down into smaller fragments.
How Does Ultrasound Work?
Inside your PT's ultrasound unit is a small crystal. When an electrical charge is applied to this crystal, it vibrates rapidly, creating piezoelect...
How Is Ultrasound applied?
Ultrasound is performed with a machine that has an ultrasound transducer (sound head). A small amount of gel is applied to the particular body part...
Contraindications to Using Ultrasound
There are some instances where you should not use ultrasound at all. These contraindications to ultrasound may include: 1. Over open wounds 2. Over...
What Does Ultrasound Feel like?
While you are receiving an ultrasound treatment, you will most likely not feel anything happening, except perhaps a slight warming sensation or tin...
Common Injuries Treated With Ultrasound
Usually, orthopedic injuries are treated with ultrasound. These may include: 1. Bursitis 2. Tendonitis 3. Muscle strains and tears 4. Frozen should...
Caution During Ultrasound
If you are going to physical therapy and are getting an ultrasound, you should know that many studies have found that ultrasound offers little bene...
Why is ultrasound used in the body?
Ultrasound is often used to provide deep heating to soft tissue structures in the body. Deep heating tendons, muscles, or ligaments increases circulation to those tissues, which is thought to help the healing process. Increasing tissue temperature with ultrasound is also used to help decrease pain.
How does ultrasound work?
Ultrasound is performed with a machine that has an ultrasound transducer (sound head). A small amount of gel is applied to the particular body part; then your physical therapist slowly moves the sound head in a small circular direction on your body.
What are the contraindications for ultrasound?
There are some instances where you should not use ultrasound at all. These contraindications to ultrasound may include: 1 Over open wounds 2 Over metastatic lesions or any active area of cancer 3 Over areas of decreased sensation 4 Over parts of the body with metal implants, like in a total knee replacement of lumbar fusion 5 Near or over a pacemaker 6 Pregnancy 7 Around the eyes, breasts, or sexual organs 8 Over fractured bones 9 Near or over an implanted electrical stimulation device 10 Over active epiphyses in children 11 Over an area of acute infection
What is therapeutic ultrasound?
Therapeutic ultrasound is a treatment modality commonly used in physical therapy. It is used to provide deep heating to soft tissues in the body. These tissues include muscles, tendons, joints, and ligaments.
Is ultrasound a passive treatment?
Many people argue that ultrasound can have a negative effect on your physical therapy by needlessly prolonging your care. Ultrasound is a passive treatment .
Can ultrasound be used for rotator cuff tears?
Generally speaking, any soft-tissue injury in the body may be a candidate for ultrasound therapy. Your physical therapist may use ultrasound for low back pain, neck pain, rota tor cuff te ars, knee meniscus tears, or ankle sprains.
Can a physical therapist use ultrasound?
Your physical therapist may use ultrasound to help improve your condition. If so, be sure to ask about the need for ultrasound and possible risks. Also, be sure that you are also performing an active self-care exercise program in the PT clinic and at home. If you are actively engaged in your rehabilitation, you can ensure that you have a safe and rapid recovery back to normal function.
What is therapeutic ultrasound?
Therapeutic ultrasound in the brain arguably holds the most promise as a noninvasive modality, with the possibilities ranging from neuromodulation, to focused ultrasound surgery, and blood–brain barrier disruption. Treatments in the brain had been reported as early as 1948 (Jagannathan et al., 2009 ). The earliest well-documented series in the published literature is from 1958 by Meyers et al., who reported on 12 patients who underwent lesioning of the substantia nigra or ansa lenticularis for rigidity and tremor ( Meyers et al., 1959 ). The treatment was performed through a craniotomy and was guided by anatomical landmarks on x-ray imaging of the head following injection of radio-opaque contrast into the ventricles (ventriculography). The ultrasound beam was generated by four quartz transducers focused by a polystyrene lens and coupled to the patient with warmed, degassed saline. All patients showed an initial improvement and most had a sustained benefit at the last follow-up reported. The same group reported an unsuccessful attempt to slow the progression of advanced breast cancer with ablation of the pituitary gland ( Hickey et al., 1961 ), and also published the first thermal ablation of brain tumors in 1985, with mixed results ( Heimburger, 1985 ). There is a report of Oka treating a small number of brain tumors. Further small clinical trials were performed through craniotomy sites for the treatment of brain tumors ( Guthkelch et al., 1991; Ram et al., 2006 ). The first focused ultrasound treatment through the intact skull in the published literature is by Martin et al., who used a 1024 element hemispherical phased-array operating at a frequency of 650 kHz ( Martin et al., 2009 ). Nine patients with chronic pain underwent MRI-guided thermal lesioning of the thalamus using the ExAblate 4000 (InSightec, Haifa, Israel) with accuracy reported to be in the order of 1 mm. The treatment method was based on the experience of an earlier study (published several months later) of three patients who underwent transcranial thermal therapy of brain tumors ( McDannold et al., 2010 ). Both studies demonstrated that transcranial ultrasound therapy could be precisely delivered with good patient tolerance. Currently, clinical studies are underway or being planned with newer generations of the same commercial ultrasound system at a number of centers.
What is a high intensity ultrasound?
High-intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU or FUS) provides a noninvasive ablation method that is FDA-approved for the treatment of uterine fibroids. Although pioneered for the treatment of uterine fibroids, this modality can be used to treat multiple diseases and may prove to be the next step in surgical innovation from open to minimally invasive to noninvasive approaches.
What is the best treatment for venous ulcers?
Conventional methods such as Debridement, Dressing, Compression Therapy, Antimicrobials and Antiseptics (Iodine, Mupirocin, Peroxide, Phenytoin, and Silver), Systemic therapy such as administration of Antibiotics and Pharmacological Agents (Aspirin, Micronized purified flavonoid fraction, Mesoglycan, Pentoxifylline and Zinc), Skin Grafting, Other Therapies (Electromagnetic Therapy, Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy, Intermittent Pneumatic Compression, Laser Therapy And Infra-Red Light Therapy, Topical Negative Pressure Therapy/Vacuum-Assisted Closure and Ultrasound) and Venous Surgery are being used for the treatment of venous leg ulcers. These modalities and their proposed mechanism of action are summarized in Table 2. There are insufficient evidence for recommendations for these methods in chronic venous leg ulcer [26]. Since the available treatments are not satisfactory therefore it is an urgent need to develop some new therapy for diagnosis/treatment of venous leg ulcer. Therefore, switching towards cellular therapies is rapidly evolving and paving the way for novel therapeutic. Mesenchymal stem cell therapy is emerging as a promising approach in this regard. MSCs are an effective therapeutic agent in various i n vivo and in vitro studies. These studies have shown the successful exogenous application of MSCs [8,28]. Autologous bone marrow-derived MSCs have shown efficacy in the treatment of the non-healing diabetic ulcer which further indicates its application in VLU [28].
What frequency is ultrasound used for?
Low power ultrasound of about 1 MHz fre quency has been widely applied since the 1950s for physical therapy in conditions such as tendinitis or bursitis.
When was ultrasound first used in physical therapy?
Physical Therapy. Unfocused beams of ultrasound for physical therapy were the first clinical application, dating to the 1950s , which often has been referred to simply as “therapeutic ultrasound” (Robertson and Baker, 2001). This modality now typically has a base unit for generating an electrical signal and a hand-held transducer.
What is HIFU used for?
HIFU application in therapy and treatment of disease is one of the more active areas of research and development among all the non-ionizing-energy modalities such as radiofrequency, lasers, and microwaves. For example, HIFU is under investigation for therapeutic modulation of nerve conductance (Foley et al. 2008).
What is ultrasound assisted liposuction?
Another procedure, ultrasound assisted liposuction, is widely used in cosmetic surgery for the purpose of removing excessive fat tissue (Mann et al. 2008). The mechanism of action apparently involves cavitational fat cell break up with removal of the fat emulsion by suction through the probe.
What are the biological effects of ultrasound?
Other potential mechanisms for biological effects of ultrasound include the direct action of the compressional, tensile, and shear stresses. In addition, second-order phenomena, which depend on transmitted ultrasound energy, include radiation pressure, forces on particles and acoustic streaming.
How long does a flat transducer therapy last?
Therapy involves multiple treatments of 20 min each day by applying the large flat transducer to the site of injury and continuing treatment for periods of months. Although the process appears to be safe and effective, the therapy is slow and its use is predominantly limited to management of non-healing fractures.
What is ultrasonic energy used for?
The use of ultrasonic energy for therapy continues to expand, and approved applications now include uterine fibroid ablation, cataract removal (phacoemulsification), surgical tissue cutting and hemostasis, transdermal drug delivery, and bone fracture healing, among others.
Why is ultrasound used in physical therapy?
Ultrasound is a common physical therapy treatment that is thought to speed healing by providing heat to injured tissues. This heat helps to decrease pain, improve cellular healing, and improve how stretchy your injured body part is to help increase range of motion and flexibility. There are some situations where ultrasound should not be used at all.
Why should ultrasound not be used?
When Ultrasound Should Not Be Used. Cancer: Since ultrasound may increase cellular activity, it should not be used over cancerous areas of the body as this is thought to increase chances of metastasis. In children: Ultrasound over the bone that has not fully developed may cause fractures or other problems with the part of the bones ...
What to do if you are getting an ultrasound?
If you are receiving ultrasound, you should speak with your physical therapist to understand why it is being used and be sure to speak up if you feel that it should not be used for your condition. UpperCut Images / Getty Images.
Can ultrasound damage the retina?
Near the eyes: Damage to the retina or lens may result if ultrasound is used near the eyes. Areas around the heart: It is suggested that ultrasound may alter the electrical signals around your heart. If you have a pacemaker, ultrasound may interfere with its normal function.
Does ultrasound improve outcomes?
If you receive ultrasound as a treatment from your physical therapist, you should understand that some studies indicate that ultrasound does not improve outcomes for various conditions. 1 . Ultrasound should not be the only treatment that you receive for your condition.
Can ultrasounds cause fractures?
In children: Ultrasound over the bone that has not fully developed may cause fractures or other problems with the part of the bones that are responsible for growth. During pregnancy: The effect of therapeutic ultrasound on a developing human fetus has not been fully explored and therefore should be avoided during pregnancy. 1 . ...
Can ultrasound be used on reproductive organs?
Over reproductive organs: The effect of ultrasound used over reproductive organs like the testes or ovaries is not fully explored and therefore should be avoided. In areas with decreased temperature sensation: If your injury prevents you from feeling normal hot and cold temperatures, ultrasound should not be used since you would not be able ...
What is the use of ultrasound?
Major Uses of Ultrasound. Ultrasound has been used in a variety of clinical settings, including obstetrics and gynecology, cardiology and cancer detection. The main advantage of ultrasound is that certain structures can be observed without using radiation.
What are the two possibilities of ultrasound?
The two major possibilities with ultrasound are as follows: development of heat -- tissu es or water absorb the ultrasound energy which increases their temperature locally. formation of bubbles (cavitation) -- when dissolved gases come out of solution due to local heat caused by ultrasound.
What is the purpose of checking the position of the placenta?
checking the position of the placenta to see if it is improperly developing over the opening to the uterus (cervix) detecting ectopic pregnancy, the life-threatening situation in which the baby is implanted in the mother's Fallopian tubes instead of in the uterus.
Can ultrasound be used to monitor a baby?
monitoring the baby during specialized procedures - ultrasound has been helpful in seeing and avoiding the baby during amniocentesis (sampling of the amniotic fluid with a needle for genetic testing).
