Ultrasound imaging

Ultrasound imaging is a diagnostic tool used to visualize a condition. Using a device that emits sound waves, you can look beneath the skin. This allows bones, muscles, tendons, and joints to be assessed.

Because tissues reflect sound waves in different ways, the structures can be distinguished from one another. Ultrasound imaging is not a treatment method but a tool that physical therapy practices are using increasingly often to assess symptoms.

An ultrasound machine consists of a console with a screen and a handpiece. This handpiece is also called a probe or transducer. This is the part that glides over the area to be examined.

For better conduction of the sound waves, the physical therapist uses a special gel. The probe is then placed on the body. During the examination, the physical therapist moves the probe slowly to visualize the body part properly. This can be done while the patient performs a movement.

On a screen, the muscles, tendons, and ligaments are visible. The physical therapist then looks for possible abnormalities that can explain the symptoms, such as inflammation, a muscle tear, or calcification.

Abnormalities are not always found with ultrasound imaging. The problem must then be sought elsewhere. It also often happens that abnormalities are found that have nothing to do with the symptoms. These are usually age-related changes in the body that do not require any treatment.

Ultrasound imaging is not only used to make a diagnosis; it is also used to assess how a condition is developing. For example, the physical therapist checks whether an injured tendon is healing with treatment. Keep in mind that symptoms often disappear before this is visible on ultrasound imaging.

As mentioned, ultrasound imaging is not a treatment in itself, so other interventions will have to be used to ultimately get rid of the symptoms. Depending on the symptom, this may be, for example, exercise therapy, rest, advice, or dry needling.