Ultrasound therapy for pain: Types, safety, and benefits

Ultrasound works by sending sound waves through the body. Doctors can recommend ultrasound therapy to treat pain. It may work best alongside other treatments.

Many people know ultrasound as an imaging tool that allows doctors to see inside the body.

It can also be therapeutic, promoting tissue healing and treating pain.

Both imaging and therapeutic ultrasound procedures use certain sound waves. The biological effects that result depend on the frequency of those sound waves.

What is ultrasound therapy?

Ultrasound uses a round-headed transducer probe to produce sound waves that enter the body. Transducers can both send and receive sound waves.

Diagnostic ultrasound utilizes sound waves to produce images doctors can use for patient assessment. Therapeutic ultrasound uses sound waves to interact with body tissue and modify it in some way, such as:

• pushing or moving tissue
• heating tissue
• dissolving clots
• delivering medication to precise locations in the body

Types of ultrasound therapy

There are two ways in which practitioners use therapeutic ultrasound.

Diathermy

Diathermy is the practice of creating heat beneath the skin for therapeutic purposes. Body tissues absorb the sound wave energy, resulting in molecular vibration, which converts the sound energy into heat.

Target areas include deep muscles, subcutaneous tissues, and joints.

Diathermy can treat:

• pain
• joint contractures
• muscle spasms

Diathermy may also improve the effectiveness of radiotherapy and chemotherapy.

Cavitation

Cavitation refers to the way ultrasound waves create pressure changes in tissue fluids. Bubbles form and then burst, creating changes to nearby tissue. Doctors commonly use cavitation to break down fat cells.

Cavitation can treat conditions such as:

• Cancer: Doctors use focused ultrasound on cancer cells to break them down and make them more receptive to treatment.
• Diabetes: Doctors use cavitation to enhance wound healing for people with diabetes. It may help prevent cardiac problems that can result from diabetes.
• Cardiovascular disease: Doctors may also use ultrasound cavitation to treat varicose veins, blood clots, calcified arteries, and veins.
• Kidney disease: Doctors use cavitation to break down kidney stones.

Benefits

Therapeutic ultrasound is a noninvasive procedure that can take place in a clinical setting such as a doctor’s or therapist’s office.

In addition to relieving pain, ultrasound therapy can also:

• increase blood flow
• promote tissue healing
• improve collagen alignment
• increase cell proliferation
• improve tissue biomechanics
• increase elasticity

Learn about high intensity focused ultrasound facials here.

Is it safe?

Ultrasound is noninvasive and doctors generally regard it as safe. Unlike X-rays, ultrasound does not produce ionizing radiation.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) warns that ultrasonic therapy is not safe for everyone and suggests a person tell their practitioner if they:

• have a cardiac pacemaker
• have a malignancy in the target area
• have a healing fracture in the target area
• are pregnant
• have an implanted medical device, such as a deep brain stimulation device

Although ultrasound therapy is generally safe, the wand should not be kept in one place for too long at certain frequencies. Patients should notify the practitioner immediately if they experience any discomfort.

What to expect

The ultrasound transducer works using skin contact. A person having this procedure must either wear loose clothing that can be pushed aside or change into a hospital gown.

The ultrasound technician applies hypoallergenic gel to the skin over the target area. The gel helps to conduct the sound waves from the transducer.

The technician then places the end of the transducer on the gel and moves it across the skin while applying gentle pressure.

Treatments are usually short, lasting 5–10 minutes.

Summary

Ultrasound can do more than generate diagnostic imaging. It can also promote healing and treat pain.

Therapeutic ultrasound uses sound waves to create heat and movement in body tissue. It can treat various conditions, often in conjunction with other treatments.

Ultrasound is generally safe, but there may be risks for certain people. Anyone considering this procedure should speak with a clinician about any pre-existing health conditions.