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The Secret of Ultrasound TherapyTherapeutic Ultrasound - a Quick Overview Therapeutic Ultrasound is a method of stimulating tissue beneath the skin's surface using sound waves. The sound waves are very high frequency, typically between 800,000Hz and 2,000,000Hz, and can penetrate up to 4 inches below the surface of your skin. The sound cannot be heard by humans or animals (humans can only hear sounds up to about 20,000Hz). This very high frequency sound affects very small molecules and cells in the body, and actually causes them to move around. The way ultrasound waves are transferred into the body is a function of many factors. The frequency of the ultrasound waves is actually opposite to how deep they will penetrate the body. For example, a 1MHz ultrasound will penetrate about 4 inches below the skin, whereas a 2MHz ultrasound unit will only penetrate about 2 inches. While a low frequency means deeper penetration, using too low of a frequency will mean that the waves are too wide to properly move the molecules. For therapeutic applications, 1MHz is the optimal frequency for both effectiveness and penetration. Dear MendMeShop, I injured by rotator cuff initially in an ice hockey game. It was re-injured during a lacrosse game two weeks later. The pain was constant. I had trouble sleeping and most mornings would wake up with shoulder pain. I tried just ice/heat treatments, rest, and a shoulder brace but it did not seem to be getting better or at least not quickly. My Mom checked on different treatments with the athletic trainer at her school and on the internet. Ultra-sound had been mentioned and she found the MendMeShop site. We ordered the unit and it arrived in just under one week (which included Thanksgiving) and started using it right away. The pain decreased quickly. I was able to participate in December in a competitive lacrosse camp with very little pain. I continued treatments and am pretty much pain free. I do use the unit after hockey and lacrosse as needed when my shoulder bothers me. The treatment usually eliminates the pain. I would recommend this unit to anyone who wants to be pain free and heal quickly after a soft tissue injury. J Whalen Hockey and Lacrosse Player, Virginia Rating: Power output is another significant factor. It is measured in watts per square centimeter. The higher the power, the more energy is transferred into the body. If too high a power output is used and an ultrasound unit is left sitting still on the body, it is possible to burn the tissue beneath the skin. While several professional ultrasound machines are capable of these high powers, your medical practitioner will typically use a lower power setting, below 1 watt per centimeter squared. More power is not necessarily better. Though some therapists may use higher powers to speed up ultrasound treatments, it is actually more effective to use a lower power setting for a longer period of time to achieve the optimal healing effect.  The power output rating is often broken down into two separate units: peak intensity and average intensity. Peak intensity can be thought of as how tall the sound waves being sent into your body are. The waves need to be large enough to affect the tissue and provide the desired therapeutic effect. At the same time, your body tissue needs breaks between groups of waves to cool down. So, Ultrasound machines actually send the waves in "pulses" (groups,) giving your body a vibrate-rest-vibrate-rest effect. The average intensity is a measure of how much energy is transferred over a period of vibrate-rest cycles.  Ultrasound machines provide a Total Power Output rating. High power units are typically used with large applicator heads to treat larger areas of the body. The important measurement part of ultrasound is the watts per square centimeter mentioned above, not the total unit power. Again, it is more effective to treat the affected area more frequently and for longer periods of time, using a lower power setting. When applied directly to the skin, an ultrasound device cannot effectively transfer the sound waves into the body. To make it work properly, a conductive medium is required - ultrasound gel. The gel simply makes it possible for the sound waves to travel from the unit head into your body. Ultrasound treatments without gel is ineffective, and can damage the ultrasound unit. What Does it Do?The heating and massaging effects of Therapeutic Ultrasound have two primary benefits. First, it increases blood flow to the treated area, which speeds the healing process. Second, it reduces swelling and edema, which are the main sources of pain.  Ultrasound can also be used to administer therapeutic medicines into the body, through a process called phonophoresis. In such a case, there are 3 benefits to a treatment, the first two from the massaging effect of ultrasound discussed above, and the third from phonophoretically administering the medication. Ultrasound treatments with Phonophoresis are rapidly becoming more popular than Ultrasound Therapy alone, due to the added benefits. For most injuries and ailments, a cycle of ultrasound therapy should optimally consist of 5-10 minute treatments, repeated 2-3 times per day for the duration of the healing period- this routine will mean fast, efficient healing, allowing you to get back to your normal life without being in pain. This surprises many people who have gone for single treatments in clincs only 2 or 3 times each week. The clinic approach, while providing the benefits of ultrasound therapy, simply become too expensive and too inconvenient. Ultrasound Gets Rid of Inflammation Fast!When you have a rotator cuff tear, tendinitis or other shoulder injury, the area becomes inflamed as the damaged tissue cells release toxins. These toxins cause your shoulder joint to be tender to touch, red, and sore to move. As the toxins and damaged cells accumulate, blood vessels become blocked and fluid gathers... resulting in swelling and pain. This is very much like the effect a dam has on a river - the flow is stopped and the fluid just builds up. To rid your rotator cuff of inflammation completely you need something to unblock the blood vessels and open the blood flow in the injury location. During ultrasound treatments, sound waves vibrate the soft tissue to reduce the blockage, decreasing the pooling of fluid and resupplying the injured area with much needed nutrients (allowing your injured cells to heal more quickly). Here's how it happens... The sound waves bounce against the tissue, scattering the fluid that causes inflammation. This unblocks the dam allowing blood to flow normally again. Increased blood flow helps whisk away dead cells and toxins from the injured tissue. The sound waves speed your body through the inflammatory process - reducing symptoms of pain, swelling, redness and heat - and open up vessels to deliver fresh blood for healing. ...the key to faster healing.Blood is your body's natural healer. It delivers oxygen and nutrients - elements crucial to regenerate and re-grow healthy tissue. Not only does ultrasound open up your blood vessels, it creates a thermal (warming) effect in the tissue cells. To counteract this warming effect, your body tries to cool the warmed tissue by sending blood to your shoulder. This increases the amount of fresh oxygen and nutrients to your rotator cuff for even faster healing! Therapeutic ultrasound increases the blood-flow to your sore rotator cuff tendon, enhancing your body's natural healing process in a non-invasive and painless way. Ultrasound Treats Your Painful Scar Tissue In most cases of a tear, strain, pull, or cartilage degeneration, scar tissue begins to form at the injury site, binding your tissues together abnormally. Unlike healthy tissue that works like a stretchy elastic band, scar tissue is tough and inflexible. Most of us know of someone that just can't seem to recover from a soft tissue injury - a good example is a runner that has injured their achilles tendon: the injury stops hurting so they start running again, and the scar tissue from the old injury just prevent the achilles from flexing properly, so they keep straining it time after time. In fact, 90% of runners that have injured their achilles will reinjure their achilles again... this is what scar tissue can do - it turns a short term injury into a long term recurring injury. Scar tissue limits the range of motion in your shoulder, greatly increases the chance of re-injury, causes pain when stretching and can leave you vulnerable to a life time of chronic inflammation and pain. Ultrasound is Key for Long-Lasting Results Ultrasound therapy is an essential step in keeping your soft tissue injury from debilitating you later on in life! As the sound waves 'bounce' against the scar tissue they 'micro-massage' and soften it, increasing the elasticity and restoring your tissue back to its normal state - good as new. This is essential because renewed, elastic tissue is healthier and less prone to re-injury. Get rid of the scar tissue and you reduce the chance of a chronic (life-long) painful condition, like arthritis or tendonitis, from setting in. Scar tissue buildup makes it difficult and painful to lift your arm and move your rotator cuff easily, limiting your range of motion. As ultrasound treats your scar tissue you will notice it is easier to move your rotator cuff again. This is a sign that your therapy is working. No scar tissue = improved flexibility & range of motionPhysical Therapy employs massage techniques to remove scar tissue and they are very effective though painful. Often the pain is too much to bear and in such cases you have a person that sacrifices flexibility because he/she cannot bear the pain of having the scar tissue "worked out". Ultrasonic waves soften tough scar tissue with no pain or impact - but keep in mind that it can take months of ultrasound treatment to reduce scar tissue, so its not a quick fix. Frequent Treatments = Quicker Results The biggest secret of ultrasound therapy is...the more you do it, the better it works. It's that simple - ultrasound softens painful scar tissue and speeds up the healing process. The treatments are easy, painless and the results are outstanding! What Can Be Treated With Ultrasound?An incredibly wide variety of ailments are treated using ultrasound. Essentially, ultrasound will help anywhere you need increased blood circulation and reduced swelling/edema.  Injuries to the tendons, ligaments, muscles, and cartilage are excellent candidates for ultrasound treatments. Typically, these types of injuries are very slow to heal due to constant use and/or poor or slow blood circulation. Constant use of an injured area will only result in further injury. Regular applications of ultrasound therapy over the duration of the healing period will quickly and significantly reduce pain as well as recovery time- the ultrasound-stimulated tissue and increased blood flow speed the healing process, while the swelling/edema is reduced. Most professional athletes use ultrasound therapy as a preventative measure to protect themselves against injury. Using ultrasound before and after very physically demanding activities aids in the warm-up/warm-down process. Athletes with chronic ailments from previous injuries also use ultrasound to promote circulation to the injured area and to reduce any swelling and pain which may impact their performance. Many professional athletes have purchased personal ultrasound units, due to their frequent use.  People who suffer from chronic ailments associated with swelling and pain will also experience great benefit from ultrasound. Those who suffer from Arthritis, Bursitis, Carpal and Tarsal Tunnel Syndrome, or swollen discs use ultrasound to reduce the swelling and pain associated with their ailment. Non-chronic conditions, such as Plantar Fasciitis, heel spurs, arch pain, or soft tissue/joint injuries in general can be treated and even eliminated with ultrasound therapy. For conditions such as Arthritis, however, ultrasound therapy unfortunately cannot eliminate the disease, but it can reduce the pain and swelling significantly- this allows sufferers to get back to their normal day-to-day activities. When used for treating painful conditions such as these, ultrasound is typically applied using a medicated gel to gain the phonophoretic benefit as well. As a therapeutic massage device, ultrasound is very effective at reducing muscle tension. People who suffer muscle tension headaches and migraines can use ultrasound on the back of the neck. This is a very common procedure used by massage therapists and chiropractors to treat headache sufferers.  Massage therapists will often offer ultrasound treatments in conjunction with regular massage, as a pain free method of releasing trigger points and "knots" in all the muscles. Using ultrasound on the trigger points of injured muscles helps to relax and reduce the trauma of the injury. When relaxed, the muscle can heal and recover from the injury much more quickly and more effectively, with less scar tissue formation. While full body ultrasound treatments are not practical, ultrasound treatments on specific injured areas are very effective. Why Do I Need Ultrasound Gel?When applied directly to the skin an ultrasound head cannot effectively transfer the sound waves into the body. To make it work properly, a conductive medium is required - ultrasound gel. The gel simply makes it possible for the sound waves to travel from the unit head into your body. Ultrasound without gel is ineffective and can damage the ultrasound machine. Is My Ultrasound Treatment Missing |
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Rotator Cuff Injury Facts:
The term "rotator cuff" refers to a group of four tendons that attach four shoulder muscles to the upper arm bone.
About 6 million people in the U.S. seek medical care each year for shoulder problems.
The shoulder joint has the widest range of motion of all joints in the body.
Ultrasound Therapy can speed rotator cuff injury recovery significantly.
Continual repetitive use of the injured rotator cuff will lead to a worse injury.
Although the rotator cuff can tear suddenly as a result of a serious injury, most rotator cuff problems develop over time.
Dear MendMeShop,
Dear mendmeshop I am very happy with the freezie wrap and the Ultrasound unit. Freezie wrap worked excellent and the ultrasound is extremely beneficial. I ve been using it diligently 3 times a day for last couple weeks And I am lifting weights again…however much lighter than before I am also working a physical therapy session twice a day to strengthen the supraspinatus tendon with rubber bands So thank you very much I am recommending to my friends at the gym since many have similar injuries Sincerely John
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John Leasure
Dear MendMeShop,
I didn't know Frozen Shoulder existed until my doctor diagnosed it 3 months ago. Then I kept hearing about friends brothers, parents, and friends of friends etc who had it and I was surprised at how common it is. Most of these people were plagued with it for months and months. I suffered for 1 month then ordered a wrap and ultrasound kit from your store. Once I started using them, I just kept getting better. After 3 weeks I thought my shoulder had more motion and less stiffness than it had had in many years. I'm better than ever now. Thanks for a great product, Jeff
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Jeff Smith
Dear MendMeShop,
I ordered this wrap after finding out I have a Calcium deposit in my shoulder which has turned to Tendinitius. The wrap is awesome and instantly takes the pain away. The only thing negative I can say is if you are right at a 40 size chest order the SM/LG (under 40'). I am in the process of exchanging sizes because I ordered the LG/XL (40'-48') and the wrap is bulky and very big. I am right on the cute off for 40' and went bigger when I first ordered and should have ordered the small.
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Melissa Rich
Dear MendMeShop,
After working for 22 years at a tree nursery, I developed rotator cuff problem in both shoulders because of the repetitious movement it takes to grade the seedlings on a table. Then I fell a couple of years ago, tearing the left rotator cuff. I have tried things like ice, special exercises, and ibuprofen. The ice and ibuprofen numbed the pain for awhile, then I would get a flare-up every time I would try to do a little yard work, such as raking. Afterwards, I would be unable to raise my arm for several days at a time, each time getting worse. I worried all the time about surgery, but knew it was not an option because of lack of insurance. One day, I had an idea to just type in rotator cuff into the Google search engine to see if I could find some new help. I just happened to come across the article about home ultrasound, and was happy to read that it could actually heal rotator cuff problems. This was back in March of this year. I wanted it then, but could not afford the price at the time. Just by coincidence, I checked the sight again a short time ago, and LO and Behold! It was on sale! Yes, I was going to get me one of those kits because I could afford it now! I was so thankful to get this deal. A prayer answered! Well, I have been using it faithfully and have noticed a remarkable improvement in my shoulders. I can even sleep on my side now, without getting up in alot of pain. I also have arthritis in my hands, especially in the right trigger finger. This is being a little more stubborn, but is not as chronic as before. I have learned to use the ultrasound more on the soft part of my hand, rather than over the bone area, because absorption is better.
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Bonnie -
Dear MendMeShop,
I have been a hairdresser and esthetician for over 20 years now. I can not tell you how happy I am to have found your products. The Inferno Wrap for my wrist is a MIRACLE to me. I have suffered intense pain for the past 3 years due to overuse of my hands. I had been having acupuncture for the past 3 years. It helped for a while but the pain always returned. I was told I would need surgery and physical therapy. After only a week using the inferno wrap I have no pain. I have 3 other hairdressers in my salon hooked on your products too. One for shoulder and back pain. We are all so happy now. I will tell everyone I know about MendMeShop. Judy Barry
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Judy Barry
Dear MendMeShop,
I fell on my bike under a UPS truck (It wasn't moving yet) because I couldn't get my feet out of my clips and, consequently fell on my shoulder and tore my rotator cuff. The pain was almost intolerable, not to mention the inability to dress myself and do simple everyday tasks--like driving, working on computer, etc. I saw my chiropractor, received multiple massages, participated in physical therapy and alternated ice/heat packs. I knew from my masseuse that when you have an injury like this, it is very involved. There are several different muscles that support the rotator cuff and when they become inflamed, sometimes scar tissue is formed as your body starts to heal. The only thing that really seemed to help my shoulder improve and the pain subside was getting ultrasound at my Chiropractor's office, but since I couldn't afford to go that route on a daily basis, I searched online and found the MendMe shop's ultrasound wand. After two weeks of using the wand, I was able to slowly start to get my muscles to fire again and rehabilitate via swimming, light weights and simple yoga stretched. Now, I have full range of my shoulder and am ready to get back on my bike and try again!
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Judy C
