Why do they use ultrasound in physical therapy?

The sound waves, or ultrasound rays, penetrate within the body generating heat, increasing blood flow, and relaxing muscles and connective tissues thereby reducing pain and muscle spasms. The stimulation of these tissues in this way encourages repair and can greatly reduce the healing time of certain injuries.

1. Reduce Pain

For starters, therapeutic ultrasound can help relieve the pain you’re experiencing.
While healing your body’s deep tissue, the ultrasound also decreases muscle spasms. Spasms and muscle tightness can connect back to the root cause of your pain.
You should know the physical therapist in charge of your ultrasound therapy can make a difference, too. Ultrasound therapy prepares your muscles for additional therapeutic treatments.
This can make the treatments more effective in reducing your pain.

2. Relax Tissue Tension

According to the World Health Organization, musculoskeletal conditions are the second-largest contributors to disabilities across the world.
Musculoskeletal pain occurs when there’s damage to your muscle tissue. While general wear and tear can cause this damage, trauma makes an impact, too. That includes:
• Auto accidents
• Falls
• Fractures
• Dislocations
• Sprains
• Direct blows
• Jerking movements
Prolonged immobilization and repetitive movements can cause this pain, too.
Ultrasound therapy can give your tissues the deep heat they need to relieve tissue tension. In fact, the ultrasound affects soft tissue cell metabolism. When the ultrasound increases blood flow, it makes the cells more receptive to healing fluids.
As a result, therapeutic ultrasounds might help treat surgical wounds and soft tissue lesions, too.

3. Increase Blood Flow

Get your blood pumping! Increased blood flow can help reduce swelling around the injured area. It reduces chronic inflammation, too, which is associated with a number of health issues (including arthritis).
If you have a fresh injury with acute inflammation, your physical therapist can set the ultrasound to pulse.
Instead of generating a heating effect, this gets your blood pumping to reduce your pain.

4. Deep Heat

Forget using a hot pack. Ultrasound therapy can penetrate deep to relax deeper musculature or joint tissues.
To make it happen, the machine’s soundwaves cause the body’s tissues to vibrate. This generates heat while increases friction down to a molecular level. Then, the targeted tissues rise in temperature.
This treatment usually takes three to five minutes.

5. Breakdown Scar Tissue

The acoustic effect caused by ultrasound therapy creates tiny micro-vibrations. These vibrations affect the fibers that cause scar tissue to form.
Breaking down scar tissue can help increase your range of motion. It also helps you maintain that range of motion for longer relief.