By now, many people have been able to observe the highly visible athletic uses and the familiar colors and taping patterns used by successful Olympic and professional athletes. But Kinesio® Tex Gold™ is more than an athletic tape. It is a unique therapeutic tool that has provided new options in rehabilitation and sports medicine throughout the world.

Talk to us about the benefits of Interferential therapy and how it could benefit you.

REHABILITATIVE (REHAB) EXERCISES

Rehabilitative exercises are designed to help patients restore motion, movement, and function, while also increasing strength and stability of an injured and/or weakened tissue.  Rehabilitative exercises address injuries such as sprains, strains, tendinitis, and pre-operative and post-operative injuries.  Rehab exercises are utilized and prescribed in an appropriate manner to aid the patient’s recovery and to reduce the pain and symptoms associated with the injury.  Every rehab exercise program is specific for each patient to help them achieve their goals as they progress in their care.  These rehab exercises are meant to challenge the patient to ensure a full recovery and to prevent future recurrence of such episodes.

ICE THERAPY

Ice pack therapy is a treatment of cold temperatures to an injured area of the body. An ice pack is placed over an injured area and is intended to absorb heat of a closed traumatic or edematous injury by using conduction to transfer thermal energy. The physiologic effects of cold application include immediate vasoconstriction with reflexive vasodilation, decreased local metabolism and enzymatic activity, and decreased oxygen demand. Cold decreases muscle spindle fiber activity and slows nerve conduction velocity, therefore it is often used to decrease spasticity and muscle guarding. It is commonly used to alleviate the pain of minor injuries, as well as decrease muscle soreness. The use of ice packs in treatment decreases the blood flow most rapidly at the beginning of the cooling period, this occurs as a result of vasoconstriction, the initial reflex sympathetic activity.

INTERFERENTIAL THERAPY

We use Interferential therapy which is a form of electro therapy that is used in the treatment of muscle pain and injuries. This type of muscle treatment makes use of mid frequency electrical currents on the muscle, which helps to heal injury and relieve pain.

How interferential therapy works is that it creates a current that has a massaging affect on the muscle; this helps to stimulate the release of endorphins, which is a natural pain reliever made by the body. Not only does this help to relieve pain, but it also helps with healing injury to the soft tissue.

HEAT THERAPY

The use of heat is effective in treating conditions that are subacute or chronic in nature. It is not recommended that heat be used within the first few days, especially when any signs of swelling or inflammation are present. The best forms of heat are in the form of a warm bath/shower or a moist heating pad. Avoid “dry” heating pads, as they can promote additional swelling and inflammation. As with heat therapy, apply the heat for a maximum of 20-25 minutes per hour. Never go to sleep with a heating pad, as this can result in increased pain, and tissue damage.

THERAPEUTIC ULTRASOUND (TUS)

TUS is applied using a transducer or applicator head that makes direct contact with one’s skin and gel is applied to the applicator/transducer to transmit ultrasonic waves that is in direct contact with the patient’s skin. TUS treatments can range from 10-15 minutes and are very comfortable as their is constant motion of the applicator head to the tissue.  Ultrasound gel is re-applied to prevent burning of the skin.  These waves are absorbed primarily by many tissues of the body, including ligaments, tendons, fascia, and scar tissue. Typically, TUS is used in chronic injury settings.  Common injuries in which TUS are utilized include: ligament sprains, muscle strains, bursitis, arthritis, and plantar fasciitis.  TUS helps the injured area to recover and heal by increasing circulation to the affected tissue, and to reduce both swelling and inflammation.

PHYSIOTHERAPY

Electrical muscle stimulation (EMS), also known as neuromuscular electrical stimulation (NMES) or electromyostimulation, is the elicitation of muscle contraction using electric impulses. EMS has received increasing attention in the last few years, because it has the potential to serve as: a strength training tool for healthy subjects and athletes; a rehabilitation and preventive tool for partially or totally immobilized patients; a testing tool for evaluating the neural and/or muscular function in vivo; a post-exercise recovery tool for athletes.

When applied the skin, it’s described as tingle sensation whereby these impulses desensitizing the pain pathway by releasing endorphins. This therapy treats acute and chronic muscular injuries.