Effects of ultrasound therapy on myofascial pain

Myofascial Pain is thought to occur commonly in the general population. 21% of patients who have been to orthopaedic clinics have myofascial pain. This number grows to 90 percent when speciality pain management centers are taken into consideration.
Myofascial pain seems to occur more frequently with increasing age until midlife. Incidence declines gradually after middle age.
Ultrasound has been used to treat people suffering from trapezitis. It is a method of Stimulating tissue beneath the skin surface using Sound waves. We can apply the Ultrasound waves in two modes, Continuous and Pulsed. During Continuous mode, the beam of ultrasound patients receives is constant. With Pulsed mode the waves are transmitted in short or intermittent transmissions that prevent the tissues from heating but still provide mechanical effects such as greater permeability of cell walls. For example, Pulsed at 0.5W/cm2 at 1:4 ratios will deliver same energy as continuous mode at 0.1W/cm2. Continuous mode is opted for musculoskeletal disorders such as spasm, Joint stiffness, and pain. While the Pulsed Mode is mainly used for soft tissue repair. There is another mode which I used for my comparative study, the SHAM mode. Sham Ultrasound is one method of giving ultrasound therapy where the intensity is kept on zero while keeping the patient unaware.

Author(s): Abhishek Parashar

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