PHYSICAL THERAPY:
TOOLS TO EXPEDITE THE PROCESS
Mandy Jiang
GOALS:
1. Help Physical Therapists with
treatment techniques to promote
the ability to move, reduce pain,
restore function, and prevent
disabilities
2. Maximize the function of all
patients to overcome all
injuries and illnesses
ULTRASOUND
• What? Ultrasound is a modality used
to treat pain by using the compression
and rarefaction of sound waves with a
frequency of 0.7 to 3.3 MHz
• Why? There are many benefits to
using ultrasound – speeds up
healing time for soft tissue injuries,
scar tissue breakdown, increase in
blood flow, + decrease in pain
ULTRASOUND (CONT.)
• How? Ultrasound is applied through a use of a
small metal head which emits ultrasonic beam,
it is continuously moved over the injured area
with a gel coating for 3-5 minutes, it can vary in
intensity and frequency
• Cost? Can range from $199 $1,000+ depending if it’s for your
personal use or a professional
setting use. It can be bought
online through websites like
Amazon, or through Health
services
Figure 1.
Ultrasound metal head being continuously
moved using ultrasound gel
ELECTRICAL MUSCLE STIMULATION (EMS)
• What? Electric Muscle Stimulation or
“Stim”, treats injuries by sending
electrical impulses through the skin to
underlying nerves, stimulating the
contraction and relaxation of a muscle
• Why? Stim is very beneficial
because it reduces pain,
inflammation, and swelling around
a joint, prevents atrophy..
These electric currents create
thermal, physiologic, and chemical
responses
ELECTRICAL MUSCLE STIMULATION (EMS) (CONT.)
• How? By placing electrodes on the skin on the
injured areas, the appropriate muscle fibers can
be recruited, the electric stimulation contracts the
muscle and helps strength the affected muscles,
this can be controlled by the settings on the
machine
• Cost? Prices can vary from $499 to
$2,999 depending on the brand and
size, it can be bought online from
retailers or health services
Figure 2.
Wires are being carefully connected so the
electric currents can run through
THERABANDS
• What? These are resistive bands that
increase with color and help with many
stretching and strengthening exercises
• How? Made of synthetic rubber,
very flexible
• Cost? You can buy these
from the Therabands
website or Amazon for less
than $15, very inexpensive
• Why? Sometimes there are no better
ways to rehabilitate an injury than simply
body-weight exercises or increased
flexibility, these bands are imperative in
this aspect
TheraBands are the only resistive exercise bands
endorsed by the American Physical Therapy Association
CYBEX NORM ISOKINETIC MACHINE
• What? A dynamic approach to rehabilitation using a
fixed speed and different resistance modes while
being able to strengthen individual joints
• Why? Usually after surgery, patients can use this
machine because it accommodates the strength of
the level of the patient, eliminates joint trauma
allowing patients to exercise & be tested at more
functional speeds, and choosing the fixed speed can
improve ROM, strength, stability, and strength of
many joints and muscles.
CYBEX NORM ISOKINETIC MACHINE (CONT.)
• How? The machine is set at a fixed speed and
resistance, when the patient goes to perform
the repetition, the torque acts as a resistance
and acts upon the patient so they are pushing
against that force, both concentric + eccentric
contractions are measured
• Cost? This machine costs
approximately $18,000 + it can be
bought online at Isokinetics.com
PHYDEO (SOFTWARE)
Phydeo is a exercise prescription app
designed for PT’s to quickly and safely
prescribe exercises to their patients in 3
steps:
1. Record
2. Send
3. View
Recording patient’s as they execute the
exercise correctly, send the exercise to
your patient in less than 15 seconds, and
view all of the videos sent between you
and the patient
$4.00/month/user
$9.00/month/1-5 users
$6.00/month/6-50 users
Phydeo
GET YOURSELF HEALTHIER FASTER!
Whether you have sprained your ankle or just had
surgery on your shoulder, we will develop a strong and
effective rehabilitation program involving body weight
exercises aided by Therabands, the usage of Ultrasound
(Heat) and Electric Stim (electric currents), isokinetic
machines, and state of the art software to get you back
into your lifestyle!
We will get you back in your lifestyle in no time!