How Is Ultrasound Therapy Performed?
Your therapist will select a small surface area to work on for anywhere from five to 10 minutes. A gel is applied either to the transducer head or to your skin, which helps the sound waves evenly penetrate the skin. During your ultrasound therapy treatment, your therapist will continually move the transducer head over and around the selected area.
Will I Feel Anything During Ultrasound Therapy?
Other than the coolness of the gel pad and sound head, you should not feel anything during an ultrasound treatment with the HF-54.
Does Ultrasound Therapy Really Work?
The literature is mixed on the benefits of ultrasound therapy. Some studies show that it can effectively control certain types of chronic pain, while others say there is little difference between ultrasound therapy and other traditional therapy treatments (such as heat, stretching and electrical stimulation) for pain control. A 2017 study showed that while patients receiving ultrasound therapy showed some improvement, a platelet-rich plasma injection was more effective than both ultrasound therapy and steroid injections for shoulder periarthritis.
Much like pain medication, finding the treatment modality that decreases your pain is often a trial and error process. If you have not had any improvement in your pain after several ultrasound treatments, ask your therapist or doctor about trying something else.