Diagnostic ultrasound is the process of soundwaves being passed into body tissue. The responding waves create an image to determine the location of the injury as well what kind of injury it is.
Using ultrasound to perform injections allows the clinician or doctor to get a clear, visible target while they are carrying out the procedure.
Ultrasound guided injections are typically meant for specialist treatments such as Morton’s neuroma, knee/hip Osteoarthritis, and Carpal tunnel syndrome just to name a few.
This treatment is used by various institutions, from the NHS to Premier League clubs.
Today, we’ll be discussing why using Ultrasound guided injections can be a benefit to your clinical practice.
Benefits of ultrasound injections
As mentioned before, ultrasound guided injections are designed to target internal bodily injuries and conditions. Using ultrasound technology is one of the safest in the medical sphere and is highly used within the physiotherapy world. There are no traces of radiation so you can sit in comfort with the knowledge that you are in safe hands and are in a safe environment.
It is reported that the effects of pain relief are greater with ultrasound guided injections due to it’s real time visual aid for the clinician and for the patient. The procedures are quick and easy and don’t hurt as much as you may think.
So if you’re worried about getting this procedure done or you know a client of yours is, they can rest easy knowing that this procedure is a lot less painful than other injection procedures due to it’s accuracy.
After the procedure is completed, you must rest the affected area for at least 24 hours.
It then takes a couple of days for the effects to become apparent. And rest can really amplify the benefits of ultrasound guided injections.
In Clinic
Having equipment in-house is a huge benefit if you run a clinic or work within an organisation that would use this procedure.
The benefits of ultrasound are so rapid and straightforward, it allows for a quick diagnosis from the word go.
In our interview with Coventry City FC’s head of medical and performance, Paul Godfrey, he spoke about the benefits of having ultrasound imagery in his treatment room.
“We spend as a club a lot of money through the course of the year outsourcing our imaging, our ultrasound imaging and our ultrasound guided injections so the plan over the next few years is to try and reduce the cost of those outsourced interventions so we can bring it in house.”
“Having it in-house makes it readily available. We can image tissues everyday if we want to but it means that on a weekly basis we can see how things are responding and resolving.”  Â
You can watch the full video here.
Expert Advice & Know-how
We recently hosted a webinar on guided ultrasound injections led by Chris Myers, director of Complete Physio and faculty lead for the Sports Medicine Ultrasound Group (SMUG).
Chris has been carrying out ultrasound guided injections for over 10 years and performs over five hundred guided injections a year.
In this webinar, Chris explained all about ultrasound guided injections, discussed the training and equipment required, and answered questions.
You can watch the full recording of the webinar at our Academy here.
Conclusion
So there’s a breakdown of what Ultrasound injections are, the benefits, and their real-world uses.
If you are interested in this then check out our other content including exclusive webinars, podcasts, and life stories then check out our academy.
