A tendon is tough, fibrous tissue that connects muscle to bone. Tendonitis is when a tendon becomes irritated and inflamed. Ultrasound uses sound waves that vibrate very fast. The waves penetrate the skin and have been used effectively to treat tendonitis.
Massage
Applying ultrasound to the affected tendon alleviates pain and swelling. This stimulates healing by promoting blood flow to the tendon. It also removes waste and toxins that build up in an injured area. Ultrasound waves also can break up scar tissue on the tendon.
A doctor can do ultrasound treatments in his office or you can purchase a personal ultrasound machine. These are smaller and safe to use, and they will allow you to do treatments more often.
Phonophoresis
Phonophoresis uses sound waves to send medicine into the body through the skin. Topical pain medications or therapeutic gels are applied to the skin above the injured tendon and then the ultrasound machine is used to rub the medication into the skin. You also get the benefit of healing massage during the application.
Ultrasound Guided Percutaneous Therapy
A new procedure for treating a specific kind of tendonitis in the shoulder was introduced to the Radiological Society of North America in 2007. In this kind of tendonitis, calcium deposits have formed on the shoulder tendon.
In ultrasound guided percutaneous therapy, the sound waves provide a picture of the interior of the shoulder. The doctor uses that picture to guide him to the tendon with the deposits. He injects a solution into the shoulder to break up the calcium. He then aspirates the calcium residue.
The procedure on the anesthetized shoulder takes about 10 minutes, and recovery time takes about an hour.
Tags: sound waves, kind tendonitis, takes about, ultrasound machine, uses sound
