4 Physiotherapy Modalities You May Receive to Treat an Injury

While these may vary based on the type of doctor you’re seeing or the type of injury you’re recovering from, modalities are used to produce a specific therapeutic response to aid in healing.

Common modalities that are seen during treatment can be either methods or machines/devices. Many times, multiple modalities are used together throughout the treatment process to help speed up recovery.

Physiotherapy treatment deals with pain caused by injury, disability, disease, or trauma. These types of treatments are regularly seen after suffering a personal injury to aid in healing and pain relief.

While this list isn’t exhaustive, below are some common physiotherapy treatment modalities that you may receive after being injured (click here to learn about different method modalities you may encounter):

Ice (Cryotherapy)

One of the most common items used for immediate injuries, ice reduces pain, swelling, inflammation, spasms in the muscles, and can penetrate up to 2 inches into injured tissues. Ice is used in the first few days after injury and also after rehabilitation exercises to limit inflammation and exacerbating symptoms.

Recently, cryotherapy chambers and localized treatment havebecome increasingly popular. These can be for specific parts of the body or whole-body at freezing or extremely below freezing temperatures. Because of just how new it is, doctors are still studying the benefits and risks of the process.

Heat

Heat
Both moist and dry heat are used for superficial treatment (heat penetration usually less than 1 cm into the tissue). Heat is used for pain relief, increasing blood flow, cell metabolism, decreasing spasms, and increases muscle/tendon flexibility. Common heat modalities are: hot packs, heating pads, paraffin baths, and fluidotherapy.

Heat is typically used once inflammation and swelling have gone down or resolved.

Electrical Stimulation

Electrical Stimulation , or E-stim, sends mild electrical pulses to stimulate injured muscles or manipulate nerves to reduce pain. Depending on the type of E-stim used, electrodes (pads that send the electrical signals) are placed near the source of pain or the affected muscles. Signals are then sent to the target area for treatment.

E-stim decreases pain by blocking nerve impulses and can also decrease muscle spasms by inhibiting voluntary muscle contraction. It is used after injury or surgery to help muscles learn to contract again and will stimulate the healing process.

E-stim is often combined with heat or ice to maximize pain relief.

Ultrasound

Ultrasound therapy uses sound waves to stimulate the tissues beneath the skin’s surface for therapeutic benefit. It is applied by using the head of an ultrasound probe in direct contact on the skin via a transmission coupling gel.

Ultrasound produces deep heat in the tissues as opposed to the modalities described above. Ultrasound is believed to: increase blood flow, stimulate cell protein production, improve flexibility of muscles/tendons, reduce scar tissue and inflammation, and increase collagen formation to help ligaments and tendons.

If your injuries were mainly soft-tissue (i.e., to muscles, tendons, ligaments, etc.), especially from a rear end collision or a low impact accident, then you will probably encounter most of the above types of treatment during your rehabilitation.

A Sacramento Personal Injury Attorney Can Help

If you’ve been injured by the negligence of another, you may be entitled to compensation to not only have your injuries treated, but for your pain and suffering, lost wages, and other damages.

When you call our office, you will speak with me, personal injury lawyer Daniel J. Hanecak. I will personally go over the facts of your case with you and provide you with honest and free advice. Please give me a call today at (916) 619-5452 or fill out our form on our website so that we can discuss getting you financial justice for your injuries.

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