ULTRASOUND

An ultrasound machine, which is very commonly used in physiotherapy, works by using high frequency sound waves (that can’t be heard by the human ear) to effectively treat deep tissue injuries. Therapeutic ultrasound is applied by using either ultrasonic aqueous gel or water between the sound head and the body part being treated.

Ultrasound is often used in conjunction with soft tissue massage, stretching and passive mobilisation techniques and Extracorporeal Shockwave as the deep heat from the ultrasound effectively warms up muscles so they are more relaxed and better results can then be achieved with therapy. Treatment usually lasts for about five minutes.

Therapeutic ultrasound is beneficial for the following soft tissue injuries both for its therapeutic heat benefits and its ability to speed up the healing process by increasing blood supply and helping recirculate inflammatory chemicals away from the area:

• Muscle spasm
• Muscle strains
• Contusions
• Ligament sprains