Ultrasound Tendonitis Treatment for Golfers

Professional and amateur golfers usually suffer some form of tendonitis during their years of play. Tendonitis involves the inflammation of a tendon, the thick fibrous cord of tissue that attaches a muscle to a bone and is usually caused by overuse of the tendon. Ultrasound therapy helps to aid in the healing of tendonitis in golfers by sending high frequency sound waves deep into soft tissue, thus stimulating blood flow and decreasing pain perception.

Common Golf Injuries

• As a golfer, you may experience tendonitis in your elbow which is usually called "golfer's elbow." This form of tendonitis is caused by the stretching of the tendons on the inside of your elbow. Another common golfer injury is shoulder tendonitis in which the tendons of your rotator cuff or bicep muscles become inflamed. These tendonitis injuries can be caused by one or more of the following examples; gripping your golf club too tightly, having a poor swing technique, lack of conditioning and flexibility and/or overuse of your elbow or shoulder tendons due to continuous play and repetitive movements.

Advantages of Ultrasound

• While a ultrasound device is going over the skin of your injured area, it is constantly moving at a frequency of about a million vibrations (hertz) per second and penetrates a warm sensation up to two inches into your skin. These sound waves help to stimulate blood flow, carry nutrients and oxygen to the injured tissues, reduce swelling and inflammation, relax your tissues, relieve pain, prevent scarring and stimulate your immune system.

Phonophoresis

• Phonophoresis involves using ultrasound devices to enhance the delivery and penetration of topically applied drugs to your inflamed tendons and muscles. The sound waves from ultrasound use applied gels to penetrate the desired medicine deep into your inflamed tendons. Only certain medications can be used in phonophoresis due to the requirement of drug molecules being certain sizes in order to react well with ultrasound gel and the ability of it to pass through your body tissue, as well as tolerating the heat and vibrations produced by ultrasound.

Prevention of Golf Injuries

• The top four reasons why golfers suffer tendonitis and other injuries are; the lack of proper conditioning, improper golf swing and golf grip techniques, overuse (excessive play) and failure to warm-up properly. All amateur golfers should receive golf lessons from a professional golf instructor to learn all the proper golfing mechanics. Other tips to consider are the following: perform core conditioning exercises and stretches, do a minimum of a 10-minute warm-up before play, practice visualization of your golf swing and stop golfing if you start to feel aches and pain.

Other Forms of Physical Therapy

• Manual therapy in the form of massage, mobilization, manipulation, chiropractic medicine and acupuncture involves treatment done with the hands rather than a machine. Another example is hot and cold therapy in the form of direct contact of ice packs, gel packs and heating pads. Also, hydrotherapy, which involves the use of water in the form of hot tubs, whirlpools, pools and Jacuzzis, helps to reduce pain and improve circulation. Finally, electrical stimulation in low forms of current can reduce pain and help muscles contract properly.