Rehabilitation

Ultrasound therapy is a treatment to relieve pain and to promote tissue healing. The two main types of ultrasound therapy are thermal and mechanical. Both use sound waves generated by a transducer head (which looks a bit like a microphone) to penetrate soft tissues.

Thermal ultrasound therapy uses a more continuous transmission of sound waves. The sound waves cause microscopic vibrations in deep tissue molecules, increasing heat and friction. The warming effect encourages healing in soft tissues by increasing metabolism at the cellular level.

Electrical stimulation is used to accomplish various tasks for therapy and pain relief. If you have an injury or illness that causes pain or limited functional mobility, your physical therapist may use electrical stimulation, or E-stim, as one part of your rehabilitation program.

Transcutaneous Electrical Neuromuscular Stimulation (TENS) is a physical therapy modality used to manage acute and chronic pain in physical therapy. Your physical therapist will use TENS to decrease your pain by applying electrodes to your body over painful areas. The intensity of the electricity will be adjusted to block the pain signals traveling from your body to your brain.

Myofascial release is a type of physical therapy often used to treat myofascial pain syndrome. Myofascial pain syndrome is a chronic pain disorder caused by sensitivity and tightness in your myofascial tissues. These tissues surround and support the muscles throughout your body. The pain usually originates from specific points within your myofascial tissues called “trigger points.”

Your chiropractor will gently massage the myofascia and feel for stiff or tightened areas. Normal myofascia should feel pliable and elastic. Then we will begin massaging and stretching the areas that feel rigid with light manual pressure. We will aid the tissue and supportive sheath in releasing pressure and tightness. The process is repeated multiple times on the same trigger point and on other trigger points until the therapist feels the tension is fully released.

Kinesiology taping is one specific mode of treatment that your physical therapist may use. It involves placing strips of special tape on your body in specific directions to help improve your mobility and support your joints, muscles, and tendons.

Kinesiology tape was developed in the 1970s by a chiropractor named Dr. Kenso Kase, DC. He found that using a flexible tape that harnessed the interface between the skin and the muscles could provide long-lasting effects for his patients. He developed many of the techniques used in kinesiology taping today, and he also has his own brand of tape called Kinesiotape.

While active stretching focuses on using one muscle group to stretch another, passive stretching uses an external force to provide the pull for the stretch. The resistance pull can either be provided by another part of your body, by a partner, or by an object.

Similar to active stretching, you hold the position for a period of time. Passive stretching is often utilized during recovery from exercise to relax your muscles and connective tissue.