Ultrasound Massage

[Lidiya]

Does anyone use ultrasound massage in their practice? if so, do you need of a certification of any kind? Or does it fall inside of the scope of practice? I practice in Florida. I am looking into buying a portable ultrasounds massage device.... not sure I can do it under my license.

 

[arnikarahman]

Ultrasound Massage

My understanding is that in Florida you can do ultrasound as long as you can prove "compentacy" (spelling??) and usually the best way to prove that is to have some type of certification. I know that I have seen ceu classes for this.

Angie

 

[Mickey]

Ultrasound Massage

Are you certain that you want to add ultrasound to your practice? How well do you understand the science behind that method of treatment? How thoroughly have you researched efficacy and best practices in ultrasound?

Ultrasound is widely used, but I have heard and read the expressed opinions of many PTs and chiros who feel that ultrasound is widely used solely because insurance reimburses for it. Despite decades of use in medical settings, there is little historical evidence to suggest that ultrasound works any better than placebo. (For a quick read, check out A Review of Therapeutic Ultrasound: Effectiveness Studies.

A more recent (2010) short paper Clinical field note —Ultrasound Therapy: Getting it Right! on ultrasound emphasizes the need to ensure an adequate level of treatment energy is needed to achieve therapeutic benefits. The paper contains data and equations needed to help determine the adequate treatment parameters necessary to achieve positive results, but stops short of making specific recommendations for different conditions.

The implication of the first paper is that you might get equally good results by simply offering "placebo ultrasound" - and recent research indicates that placebo works even when the patient/client KNOWS they are receiving a placebo. So you could COULD offer it legally providing you don't misrepresent what they are receiving. Since it would be a placebo, you could use a sham piece of equipment or even an old, nonfunctional machine, thereby saving yourself some money.

The implication of the second paper is that, if you want to offer ultrasound, you need to understand the science well enough to figure out what equipment you need and how to calculate what type of ultrasound applications and durations you need to use in order for the treatments to make any difference at all. If you read that paper and it all makes sense, go ahead. If you read it and don't get it, don't expect much for results if you add ultrasound to your sessions anyway.