What is ultrasound therapy?
Ultrasound therapy uses a small handheld probe that sends sound waves, too high to hear, into soft tissue. The physiotherapist moves it over your skin with a little gel.
Most people feel nothing or a gentle warmth. It is a treatment, not a picture.
How is it different from an ultrasound scan?
A scan uses sound waves to make an image, for example of a baby, a shoulder or a gall bladder. Therapeutic ultrasound uses sound waves to treat, and it does not give your doctor a picture.
If someone says “I had ultrasound”, ask which kind they mean. The two are easy to confuse in family conversations.
Why does it matter for a patient?
Ultrasound therapy is one of the tools for soft-tissue pain, and the evidence for how much it adds varies. Exercise and gradual loading usually carry the main weight in recovery.
Ask your physiotherapist why they suggest it, what they expect it to add, and for how long you will use it before reviewing.
An everyday example in Ipoh
A badminton player has an aching tendon on the outer side of the elbow after weekend games. The physiotherapist uses ultrasound therapy for a short spell to settle the area, then spends most of the visit on grip and wrist strengthening.
By the next visit, he understands that the strengthening is what changes the tendon, and the device is the small part.
Related terms and our pages
- Tendinopathy: a painful, overloaded tendon.
- Shockwave therapy: a stronger pulse-based device.
- TENS: electrical pulses through the skin for pain relief.
See our pages on tennis elbow and pain management.