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Anyone try Ultrasound Therapy for pain?

Melensdad

Jerk in a Hawaiian Shirt & SNOWCAT Moderator
Staff member
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Yesterday I had to move the baby grand piano. Its on carpet. Just needed to rotate it to get a ladder up against the wall.

So lift and heave. And my left wrist, which is the one that I have arthritis problems with, makes a bad sound. Like a 'pop' when there should be no noise.

Yeah, ouch.

Tried the "Tens" unit for some electro therapy, also used some prescription Valtoran ointment, and downed some pills. And then repeated all that later. And then again at bedtime. And again this morning. And wearing a wrist brace too.

No hard work for me today, so I went to the cigar lounge to take it easy. Talked with one of my buddies there and he was telling me about Ultrasound therapy. As a railroad worker he is always in pain. Bought an Ultrasound unit and says it works great.

Did some research on Al Gore's inter-webs and found out they seem to work pretty well, used by physical therapists, etc. Couldn't find any real problems, and there seems to be some research done with rheumatoid arthritis patients that is positive.

Looked around and found them at all sorts of price points. Decided to try a $99 unit that was on eBay. BTW, prices on eBay are far lower than on Amazon. Should arrive in 7 to 10 days.

So have any of you had Ultrasound Therapy?
 

tiredretired

The Old Salt
SUPER Site Supporter
No, but my wife does laser therapy with a hand held wand that relieves pain by increasing the blood flow to the affected area. Speeds up healing. She has a loyal following for that gizmo I call it her light saber.

She's used it on me a few times for pulled muscles and stretched hamstrings and it worked great. YMMV.
 

Melensdad

Jerk in a Hawaiian Shirt & SNOWCAT Moderator
Staff member
GOLD Site Supporter
Snowball, our Maltese who died in 2015, used to get laser therapy for his back, that seemed to help.

I had never heard of ultrasound therapy before yesterday but my buddy swears by it.

Near as I can tell there are a couple different frequencies (1 and 3 megahertz) and treatment can be done in pulses or continuous. Everything I am finding seems to be good. It apparently works better for some than for others. Figured the $99 I am spending for a simple unit (with good reviews) is worth trying. If it works well I may buy a better unit in the future if needed. My left wrist is a chronic pain point for me. Obviously worse since I moved the piano, but the left wrist bothers me more days than not so clearly any sort of relief is good.

This is what I bought:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/US-Pro-2000...31f2bbe&pid=100005&rk=4&rkt=6&sd=351228519341

There are lots of other units. Some with multiple 'wands' that look like something you'd find in a doctors office. Many cheap units in the $35 to $50 range but reviews seem to be iffy on many of those, some are old models with newer versions greatly improved. The prices also go up to a couple grand for professional units.
 

Melensdad

Jerk in a Hawaiian Shirt & SNOWCAT Moderator
Staff member
GOLD Site Supporter
I was looking at the same unit this morning. I found one for 76 on ebay. I may order one for home treatment on my feet since eventually there will come a point where physio is no longer useful.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/172618604708

That is the old model, you will see it has a lower duty cycle. Reviews of people who switched to the new one from the old one say there is a world of difference.
 

XeVfTEUtaAqJHTqq

Master of Distraction
Staff member
SUPER Site Supporter
I just bought a tens and it seems to work well on muscle pain. It will be interesting to hear how the ultrasound works for you. I might pick one up if you think it works. I could use it on my elbows these days.
 

Melensdad

Jerk in a Hawaiian Shirt & SNOWCAT Moderator
Staff member
GOLD Site Supporter
I just bought a tens and it seems to work well on muscle pain. It will be interesting to hear how the ultrasound works for you. I might pick one up if you think it works. I could use it on my elbows these days.

we have 2 different types of tens units

One is an OMRON unit ($40) with 2 'pads' that you stick on near your affected area. Works well on some types of pain.

The other is a QUELL whole body unit that you wear just below your knee. Typically you wear it all day or all night. Not sure how that works, but I used it when hiking across Spain last year. I was mostly pain free so it was worth the $250 price tag. I'm using that one now in addition to the wrist brace and prescription Valtoren gel. Not sure it is providing relief for this particular injury with intense shooting pain. I think it might be better for general aches and pains?
 

bczoom

Super Moderator
Staff member
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Nobody has mentioned it yet but have you considered putting down furniture sliders so you don't hurt yourself moving the piano? :)
 

Melensdad

Jerk in a Hawaiian Shirt & SNOWCAT Moderator
Staff member
GOLD Site Supporter
Nobody has mentioned it yet but have you considered putting down furniture sliders so you don't hurt yourself moving the piano? :)

I'm thinking of bringing in a chainsaw and moving it in small pieces out to the burn pile :hammer:
 

zekeusa

Bronze Member
SUPER Site Supporter
My chiropractor used it on my shoulder. It seemed to work faster than the adjustments.
 

NorthernRedneck

Well-known member
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I just asked my physiotherapist about the portable ultrasound like above. His thoughts are that they are alright but if you need max power for the treatment they can only make at max power about 20% of what the machine he has can produce. And he uses max power on his machine.
 

Melensdad

Jerk in a Hawaiian Shirt & SNOWCAT Moderator
Staff member
GOLD Site Supporter
YUP, and it seems to have helped.

Boring to use, it has a time with settings for 5, 10 and 15 minutes but no beep or other audible notice when it stops. That is probably my only real criticism of the unit.

Its also sort of messy because you have to put gel on your arm (or other affected area). Some of that soaks into your skin, but a lot of it just spreads around. So you need to clean up afterwards. Not a criticism, it just is what it is.

Best for use in areas not directly over lots of bones, so I use it on my arm but not over my wrist. There are a couple warnings, not to be used over your thorax and a couple other areas.
 
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