Ultrasound is a form of thermotherapy (heat treatment) that helps to heal painful conditions and repairs soft tissue damage. Ultrasound therapy uses high-frequency sound waves that can penetrate up to 2 inches into your skin. The heat from these waves stimulates the healing process, increases blood flow to your affected area and reduces swelling and inflammation. Ultrasound therapy can be performed by physical therapists, occupational therapists, physicians and even yourself at home by using a portable ultrasound device.
How Ultrasound Works
Ultrasound therapy machines have a console that provides electrical current through a coaxial cable to a hand-held transducer, which contains a quartz crystal. This crystal produces sound waves through your skin by expanding and contracting. The head of the transducer, which delivers the sound waves, is constantly moving at high frequencies between 0.8 to 3 MHz. The lower the frequency, the deeper the waves penetrate, and the higher the frequency the less the waves penetrate. Ultrasound devices can produce different watts of power and thus different amounts of energy and heat to the body. However, it is recommended to use a lower power for a longer period of time.
Ultrasound Techniques
Ultrasound therapy can be delivered to your skin in either a continuous wave or a pulsed wave format. Pulsed wave therapy uses less heat and supplies sound waves to your skin in pulses with breaks in between. This method is used mainly to decrease inflammation, swelling and pain and this includes wound care. Continuous wave therapy uses higher wave frequencies and more heat to stimulate the process of healing and increases the metabolism of your tissue cells.
Phonophoresis
Phonophoresis is the process where topically applied drugs are used in conjunction with a gel (conductive medium) and an ultrasound therapy device to deliver particular medicines deep into the affected skin. Phonophoresis provides a great advantage by applying necessary medication only to particular parts of your body without "drugging" your entire body (like oral pain killers). However, the only drawback is that only certain drugs can be used. These particular drugs must have the right size molecules to enter your skin and must be able to withstand the heat and vibrations produced by the ultrasound device.
Benefits
Ultrasound therapy treatment provides many wonderful benefits. Those benefits include the following: stimulates blood flow to the affected area, which starts the healing process; reduces scar tissue, chronic swelling and inflammation; speeds up your metabolism and improves circulation in your affected area; reduces irritation to nerve roots; reduces muscle spasms; gently massages muscles and tendons, which helps them to relax and recover from tissue damage; provides local treatment only to affected areas; delivers certain medications phonophoretically; and provides almost instant pain relief for many people.
Risks
As with any medical treatment, you should consider the risks of ultrasound therapy. Ultrasound waves should not be used over your organs and other sensitive areas of your body. These include your heart, kidneys, liver, eyes, ovaries, testicles, ears, brain, spinal cord and bowels. Also, you should not undergo ultrasound therapy if you have certain medical conditions such as hemophilia, spinal bifida, diabetic neuropathy and deep venous thrombosis. Also, it is advised that pregnant women should not use it near their abdomens and lower back region. Lastly, people with implants such as pacemakers should not undergo ultrasound therapy.
Tags: your skin, sound waves, affected area, therapy uses, Ultrasound therapy
