Chronic musculoskeletal pain results from various causes and leads to decreased quality of life, work-related disability claims and lost recreation time. Unfortunately, many of the current treatments for these types of injuries attend to the symptoms of the problem rather than healing the source directly.
Current treatment options for musculoskeletal injuries are painful, expensive, ineffective or overly invasive to the patient. After common conservative therapies such as rest, hot and cold therapy and NSAIDS, patients seek treatment from means such as physiotherapy and physical therapy to low-intensity ultrasound (diathermy) and shockwave therapy.
The concept of using a high-frequency, ultrasound device to penetrate tissue deep within the body, without breaking the skin, seems more like a treatment from a science-fiction film than one used to treat patients, but that technology is already being evaluated. Guided Therapy Systems recently completed a study of Actisound, the intense therapeutic ultrasound (ITU) technology, to treat chronic plantar fasciitis, which caused patients heel pain.
Recent Comments