Treatments
Regardless of what you have done or where your pain is, our approach, before we commence treatment, is to first determine the cause of your problem. This involves a thorough examination: including a complete history and a physical and neurological examination. Occasionally, x-rays or other imaging studies are required in order to make a precise diagnosis.
Once a cause is established, your physiotherapist will use a combination of the following treatments to help you recover and return to pain free living.
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| Ankle | Knee | Foot |
| Elbow | Wrist/Hand | Hip |
| Shoulder | Cervical Spine (neck) | Lumbar Spine (low back) |
| Thoracic Spine (mid back) |
Manual Therapy
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Exercise
At Pro Motion Physiotherapy we focus on three pillars of good health and fitness: muscular strength, cardiovascular (aerobic) fitness, and muscular flexibility.Our physiotherapists and kinesiologist instruct our patients on exercise that will not only help them recover from their current injury, but also begin or continue on their journey of a healthy lifestyle. Personal training sessions are also available which go above and beyond the basic exercises prescribed during injury rehab to include exercises that will help our clients get in the best shape of their lives.
Activities like walking, gardening, biking, skiing, and hiking are all great examples of different, moderate level activities that will give multiple health benefits as outlined below.
Check out the following list and see what 30 minutes of exercise a day can do for you! (If you need help getting started, ask us today how we can help you stay healthy and live longer by taking care of your body and exercising regularly).
- Reduce health risks such as obesity, heart disease, high blood pressure, type II diabetes, strokes and some forms of cancer. Weight-bearing aerobic exercises, such as walking, badminton, tennis, and basketball will help to reduce the risk of osteoporosis, by placing stress on your bones.
- Help control chronic conditions by lowering high blood pressure, controlling blood sugar levels and relieving chronic muscle pain. For people who have previously had a heart attack, aerobic exercise can help prevent future heart attacks.
- Control Body Composition with a healthy diet, resistance training, and aerobic exercise. This will help to lose body fat — and keep it off.
- Help combat colds and the flu by helping activate your immune system. By strengthening your immune system, you will be less susceptible to minor viral illnesses, such as colds and flu.
- Keep your arteries clear by increasing the concentration of high-density lipoprotein (HDL, or "good") cholesterol and decreasing the concentration of low-density lipoprotein (LDL, or "bad") cholesterol in your blood. This will help to decrease the amount of plaque that builds up in your arteries.
- Strengthen your heart which allows it to pump more efficiently. This will cause your heart to beat at a slower rate at rest and improves blood flow to all parts of your body.
- Increase your stamina and reduce fatigue by increasing your aerobic capacity. Your muscles will not have to work as hard to complete the same tasks.
- Stay active and independent as you age by keeping your muscles strong, which can help you maintain mobility as you get older.
- Help keep your mind sharp. Researchers say that at least 30 minutes of aerobic exercise three days a week can reduce mental decline in older adults.
There are also many different health benefits associated with resistance training:
- Increase your muscle mass which will increase the amount of calories you burn in a given day. This is an effective way to increase loss of body fat.
- Strengthen your bones by regularly completing resistance training exercises. Like muscles, our bones also get a workout when we do strength training exercises. This helps to decrease the risk of osteoporosis.
- Increase your total body strength when you complete resistance training exercises.
- Increase balance and agility by challenging these body systems. In the younger population, this will help athletes perform at higher levels with less risk of injury. In the elderly, improving balance and agility helps to decrease the risk of falls and subsequent serious injury.
- Decrease body pain caused by weakness in specific muscle tissue. It also helps to develop a more ideal posture by strengthening postural muscles that are weak.
- Help relieve arthritis pain and increase the range of motion in the joint. The cartilage depends on movement to deliver oxygen and nutrients, and exercise helps with achieve this
- Make everyday activities easier by increasing your ability to move in the ways you need want to.
Interferential Electrical Stimulation
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Therapeutic Ultrasound
What is therapeutic ultrasound?
Ultrasound simply refers to sound waves with a frequency greater than what the human ear can hear (about 20,000 Hz). In physiotherapy, ultrasound machines typically produce sound waves in the range of 1-3 MHz (ie. 1-3 million hertz (cycles/second). These very high frequency sound waves are well collimated (tend to stay in a direct line, similar to the light from a flash light), and thus are well suited for the stimulation of a selected and limited target area. As the frequency of the sound wave increases, more and more of the energy is absorbed in superficial tissues, therefore, for superficial injuries a 3 MHz sound head is appropriate and for deeper lying structures (up to 5 cm below the skins surface), a 1 MHz frequency is used.
In medicine, ultrasound is used for diagnosis (imaging of internal structures), physiotherapy (treatment of soft tissue disorders), and tissue destruction (eg. tumour irradiation). It is the intensity of the ultrasound, not the frequency, which determines its use. The highest intensity is used for tissue destruction, while the lowest intensity is used for diagnostic purposes.
It is the treatment of soft tissue disorders that we refer to as 'therapeutic ultrasound' and what we choose to use ultrasound for in the physiotherapy setting.
What are the effects of therapeutic ultrasound on the body?
1. Thermal Effects (results due to heating of the tissue)
Ultrasound is able to elevate the temperature in the body to depths of about 5 cm. There are several physiological effects which occur as a result of this. They include:
- Increased ability to stretch shortened/contracted ligaments, muscles, tendons and joint capsules
- Increased blood flow
- Increased rate at which nerve impulses travel
- Decreased awareness of pain
- Increased ability of muscle to contract
2. Nonthermal Effects (what happens to the tissue in addition to heating it)
Increased ability of products needed for tissue repair to cross the cell wall of muscles and blood vessels. (eg. increased protein synthesis and movement of calcium in muscle cells)
When should Therapeutic Ultrasound be used?
Therapeutic ultrasound has been shown to be effective in the management of the following conditions:
Limited movement due to joint tightness and scar tissue build up.
Ultrasound can heat deep tissue, and can selectively heat the denser scar tissue which can help in the ability to stretch the tight tissue.
Pain and muscle spasm
Through its ability to raise tissue temperature, therapeutic ultrasound has been shown to reduce pain and to reduce muscle spasm.
Bursitis and Tendonitis
The research that supports the use of ultrasound for the treatment of tendonitis and bursitis is very limited. It is possible that ultrasound can be beneficial in these conditions due to it's ability to increase blood flow and decrease pain through deep heating.
Calcium Deposits
Although there are suggestions that ultrasound can assist in the reabsorption of calcium deposits in the body, there are no conclusive studies to support this. Rather, pain reduction in these cases may instead be due to a reduction in the inflammation around the calcium deposit, which would result in decreased pain and improved function.
Phonophoresis
Phonophoresis is the term given to using ultrasound to drive anti-inflammatory and pain relieving medications through the skin to their target site. This may be a good option for those patients that want medication applied locally to an area without receiving the injections with a hypodermic needle.
Laser
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Pulsed Electro-Magnetic Field Therapy (PEMFT)
What is it?
Pulsed Elecro Magnetic Field Therapy is a clinical treatment using time variable, low frequency pulsed magnetic fields to bring about healing of damaged bones or soft tissue in the body.
How Does it Work?
Magnetic therapy has been used for decades to bring healing to damaged tissues in the body. Until recently, the 'how' of how magnetic therapy works was unknown. Recent research has suggested that PEMFT works by changing the permeability of the cell wall (membrane). All living cells within the body possess a difference in the electrical charge between the inner and outer membrane of the cell. In healthy cells this electrical difference, or electrical potential, remains fixed (exception: nerve cells). When a cell is damaged, this electrical potential changes such that the balance across the membrane changes, causing the attraction of positive sodium ions into the cell and negative trace elements and proteins out of the cell. The net result is that liquid is attracted into the interstitial area (the space between the cells) and swelling or oedema results.
Soft tissue Healing:
The application of pulsed magnetic fields help the body to restore normal electrical potentials at an accelerated rate, thus aiding the healing of most wounds and reducing swelling faster. PEMFT also influences ATP (Adenosine Tri-phosphate) production, increases blood flow and brings more oxygen and healing nutrients to the damaged tissue.(1,2,3)
Fracture Repair:
PEMFT has been used extensively for the treatment of non-union fractures. Research shows that magnetic fields influence the process of bone formation. This not only helps in the healing of acute fractures, but also in the healing of fractures and replacing bone loss caused by osteoporosis. (4, 5, 6)
Pain Reduction:
Pain is transmitted as an electrical signal, through nerve cells, to the brain. PEMFT helps to prevent the propagation of this pain impulse by lowering the resting electrical potential of the nerve cell membrane. Very simply, this means that it takes a much greater pain stimulus to start the transmission of the pain message. If no message is sent, no pain is perceived by the brain. (1,2)
What is it Good For?
There is a wide body of research that supports the effectiveness of PEMFT for the following disorders:
- Acute and Chronic Pain (1)
- Soft tissue injuries (sport or work related) (3)
- Fractures (4)
- Osteoporosis (5, 6)
- Headaches (7, 8)
- Arthritis/Joint Disease (9, 10, 11)
- Multiple Sclerosis (12, 13, 14)
- Tendinitis (15, 16)
- Nerve Problems (neuropathies) (17)
- Combined with other physiotherapy interventions, PEMFT becomes an even more valuable tool.
Is it safe?
Over the past 30 years of use there have been NO NEGATIVE SIDE EFFECTS noted with PEMFT.
Acupuncture
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Heat/Ice
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Mechanical Traction
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Personal Exercise Program
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Custom Orthotics
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PDF Downloads
Here are some downloadable and printable booklets that will help you understand your injury better. If you don't understand everything that you read, feel free to bring your questions with you to your next appointment and your physiotherapist can answer them for you.
Ankle
AnatomyAnkle Sprain and Instability
Ankle Osteoarthritis
Shin Splints
Knee
AnatomyPatellar Tenonitis
ACL Injuries
ACL Reconstruction−Hamstring Repair
ACL Reconstruction−Patellar Tendon Graft
Cartilage Problems
Knee Replacement
Collateral Ligament Sprains
Meniscal Injuries
Meniscal Surgery
Knee Osteoarthritis
Patellar Pain (Knee cap)
Hamstring Injuries
Foot
AnatomyAchilles Tendon Problems
Bunions
Plantar Fasciitis
Claw toes and Hammertoe
Elbow
AnatomyTennis Elbow (Lateral Epicondylitis)
Golfer's Elbow (Medial Epicondylitis)
Olecranon Bursitis
Ulnar collateral Ligament Injuries
Wrist/Hand
AnatomyAthritis of the thumb
Carpal Tunnel Syndrome
Carpal Tunnel Surgery−Endoscopic
Carpal Tunnel Surgery−Open
Dupuytrens Contracture
Finger Injuries
Ligament Injuries of the thumb
de Quervain's Tenosynovitis
Ligament Injuries of the wrist
Scaphoid Fracture
Hip
AnatomyOsteoarthritis of the hip
Total Hip Replacement
Hip Resurfacing
Hemiarthroplasty of the hip
Stress Fracture of the hip
Trochanteric Bursitis
Shoulder
AnatomyShoulder Separation
Frozen Shoulder (Adhesive Capsulitis)
Biceps Rupture
Bicep Tendonitis
Calcific Tendonitis
Impingement Syndrome
Labral Tears
Osteoarthritis of the A/C joint
Rotator Cuff Tears
Snapping Scapula
Thoracic Outlet Syndrome
Cervical Spine (neck)
AnatomyNeck Pain
Whiplash
Burners and Stingers
Radiculopathy (nerve pain)
Spinal Stenosis
Lumbar Spine (low back)
AnatomyLow Back Pain
Degenerative Disc Disease
Disc Herniation
Facet Joint Arthritis
Spinal Stenosis
Spondylolisthesis
Spondylolysis
SI Joint Dysfunction
Treatment Guidelines for Low Back Pain
Thoracic Spine (Mid Back)
AnatomyCompression Fractures
Scheuermanns Disease