Ultrasound for Pain | Arthritis Information

An ultrasound machine does warm up the muscles in the area you use it on but you could do the same with a hot shower, water bottle etc. Arthritis affects bones, cartilage etc and ultrasound machines are mainly used to speed up the healing process in soft tissue injuries like torn and sprained muscles by sending ultrasound waves through the soft tissue to stimulate blood flow and promote healing.

I did try my ultrasound machine on my neck a few times where I have a lot of arthritic damage and quickly realised it was a waste of time. Any relief came from the heat generated and it did not last long-less than the relief you would get from a hot water bottle or shower.

I have never seen ultrasound machines recommended for arthritis. They might be recommended for arthritis by the people peddling them trying to make a buck but no reputable doctor would endorse them. They are like most of the things sold for helping arthritis-a way to make money for the people selling them while doing next to nothing for the sufferer that buys them hoping for relief.

I've been ripped off too many times to be anything but brutally honest with respect to devices sold for helping conditions like arthritis. A chiropractor that charged me 00 promising to fix the 'subluxations' (normal changes in the spine as we age-chiropractors call them subluxations to con you into paying for their services) on my spine which led to arthritis and hundreds of dollars wasted on a magnetic underlay and a magnetic necklace are examples of ways I've been preyed on by vultures promising relief and delivering nothing.

I'm now much more careful parting with my money especially buying anything that is claimed will help arthritis. A few days ago I was in a shop and a woman tried to sell me an 00 massage chair which I thought would be great for loosening my stiff body on getting up each morning. Of course I didn't buy it but I did go to an auction today and bought an almost identical machine brand new out of the box for 0. It works well and was a good price (and if I get tired of it I can always sell it to someone else for 00 or 00 and they will be rapt at getting a bargain-well maybe not because then I'd be a vulture hmm 00 maybe and I would not claim it was good for arthritis)!

I went to a chrio once who promissed me the world too.  Said he would even cure my essential tremmor (the shakes).  After 3 weeks, I was still shaking and I could barely move my neck for all the pain that he had caused.  I totally despise Chiros now though my wife still believes in them.

One real good and one don't bother opinion so far, but no one who's tried this Sonic Relief thing?  All the testamonies on TV were like woobie's, and this was the shopping channel, not an infomercial.

I've tried those chairs too dragon.  They feel amazing when you're in them.  I haven't been ready to drop the 0s to get one though.  If you want to get rid of your's, I'll give you 0 and you won't need to feel like a vulture then.

Dragon,

I thought your reply was pretty good so I sent it off to the Sonic Relief company to see what they had to say.  They said they would respond to you directly.  DId they?

I looks OK. In fact the part you hold in your hand is pretty much the same shape as my 20 year old unit. Mine is quite powerful since it is the same one that doctors and other professionals use and the one being advertised is probably made for minimum cost to sell to the public at maximum profit. It may help with muscle pain and inflammation because the waves stir up the cells in the area you use the machine generating heat, stimulating blood flow assisting in the removal of waste products etc. For sprains ultrasound is great and will speed up healing. For arthritis the best it will do is it might make you feel good for a little while and perhaps help relieve inflammation. It certainly won’t do anything for the underlying arthritic condition because it involves bones and cartilage and ultrasound won't affect those.

I took the plunge and bought a unit....

Well, it is very different from what I expected, but after 3 days of using it, I have to say it definitely does work.

One thing I did expect was to feel heat or vibration from the unit.  It didn't vibrate at all, and the head stayed cool.  If it wasn't for the little 'on' light, I might not have known it was running.  By the end of the session (10 minutes) I did feel a bit of warmth in my knee, but it wasn't huge.  I think the best word to describe the first session was 'soothing'.  At the end, my knee did feel better, (like it might on a really good day).  The relief stayed with me too, it wasn't gone after an hour or so, in fact after an hour I think I felt better than immediately after the treatment.

The second treatment was no 'eureka I'm cured' either, but like the first application, there was a realizable improvement, and that was over and above the benefit from the first time.  After the second treatment I was thinking, "hey, I think this really is doing something".  It had been a long time since my knee felt that good.

When I woke up the next day, it wasn't pain and suffering as usual, it was a little less than usual.  More treatments, and more marginal improvements.  After 3 days, I'm convinced that I've realized a lot of benefit from this little gadget.  Hopefully it continues to provide improvment and lasts.