Electro-medical devices are not only instruments for the integration of manual physiotherapy treatments and the creation of a wider rehabilitation therapeutic program, but also instruments that can be effectively combined to treat the different stages of a series of sessions. Let’s see a case study where tecar, laser and ultrasounds are combined.
The muscular strain
Sports people are more subject to muscular lesions, which can be divided, depending on their severity, in:
- muscular contracture
- muscular sprain
- muscular distraction
- muscular strain
The strain is a rather severe lesion that causes the rupture of some fibers that compose the muscle. This lesion is generally caused by an excessive stress and can be more or less severe depending on the number of the involved fibers. The affected subject will perceive a severe pain in the area and within 24 hours a hematoma will spread as consequence of the blood extravasation.
The pectineus muscle
The pectineus muscle is located in the upper and medial part of the thigh and together with the iliopsoas muscle form the base of the iliopectineal bursa.
During a game, following a functional overload, the patient – a 30 year old female soccer player – feels a sharp pain in the groin area, such as to immediately stop the game.
The performed ultrasound scan reveals an evident rupture of the proximal portion of the adductor longus, with edematous and hemorrhagic imbibition extended for more than 3 cm and disruption of the fibers. The magnetic resonance shows an extended serum-hematic infarction of the pectineus muscle in whose context a muscular hematoma of about 2.5 cm x 3 cm is spread.
The condition is not severe as to require surgery and for this reason a physiotherapy treatment begins. The patient is treated with a synergetic approach using three technologies: tecar, laser and ultrasounds with the aim of cicatrizing the strain, reabsorbing the edema and eliminating the pain.
The first 5 sessions were characterized by the use of tecar in capacitive mode for a period of 20 minutes for each session and a power of 25%. Then other 9 sessions with high power laser were performed (fluence 0.955 + 3822 J/cm2, frequency 50 + 100, time 6+3 and spot area 3). In the last 3 laser applications in the treatment program, ultrasounds were performed (07 W/cm2, 1 MHz, 10 minutes).
After the 14 sessions, the ultrasound scan performed on the patient did not show lesions of the adductor muscles and the pectineus muscles and the edematous and hemorrhagic imbibition had disappeared.