Diagnostic ultrasound is coming to a Sentara therapy center near you

Medical imaging is a critical tool for diagnosing injuries, allowing doctors to see inside your body in a safe and noninvasive way. Many of the injuries that physical therapists treat are to soft tissue—muscles, ligaments and tendons. Traditionally, getting images of soft tissue has required equipment that’s too expensive to be found in the typical physical therapy center.

Sentara is proud to announce the introduction of diagnostic ultrasound to Sentara therapy centers, offering patients real-time imaging that can be done in the office. With more diagnostic ultrasound equipment readily available, we can treat patients more quickly so they can return to their regular activities sooner.

What is diagnostic ultrasound?

Ultrasound is a medical imaging technique that uses high-frequency sound waves to produce images of structures inside the body. Diagnostic ultrasound has been around for decades. Most people are familiar with its use to monitor the development of babies in the womb. In addition to obstetric imaging, general ultrasound is also used to monitor internal organs like the heart or kidneys. 

For physical therapy—as well as chiropractic and orthopedics—a type of ultrasound called musculoskeletal (MSK) ultrasound is used. MSK ultrasound uses higher frequencies to paint a more accurate picture of tissue that is just under the skin. Physical therapists can use MSK ultrasound to look at soft-tissue structures in your shoulders, wrists, ankles and more.

As ultrasound equipment has become more compact and less expensive, ultrasound imaging has found its way out of hospitals and specialized imaging centers and into physical therapy practices, making it easier to provide patients with timely medical imaging. 

When it comes to physical therapy, time is of the essence

The sooner you can start physical therapy, the sooner you can recover. But to treat a soft-tissue injury effectively, you need to be able to diagnose it. 

“If people have chronic pain, and we keep treating the pain without diagnosing the soft-tissue injury, we’re not really helping them,” says Dr. Punith Shivapura, a physical therapist and team coordinator at Sentara Therapy Center-Dumfries. 

However, diagnosing soft-tissue injuries often involves medical imaging, which means giving a referral for an MRI or CT scan. The patient will have to go to another location on another day, get the scan, and then come back to the physical therapist for a follow-up appointment.

Sometimes days or even weeks can pass between the initial injury and that follow-up appointment. During this lag time, the injury may actually be getting worse. 

Diagnostic ultrasound addresses this problem by providing real-time imaging in the physical therapist’s office, without the need for a referral or a trip to an imaging center. This is especially useful for athletes and weekend warrior types, who want to get back to training as quickly as possible. 

“With ultrasound, we solve the first level of the puzzle,” says Shivapura. “The patient leaves with some basic information about their injury.”

Another tool in the toolbox

Diagnostic ultrasound provides a lot of benefits, but it doesn’t replace other forms of imaging. It doesn’t provide as detailed an image as an MRI or a CT scan, and X-rays are better suited for identifying broken bones.

What diagnostic ultrasound does offer is immediate, inexpensive images. These images are often more than good enough to diagnose common injuries, making diagnostic ultrasound a useful addition to the imaging toolbox. 

“Every imaging technology out there has different pros and cons,” says Dr. Andrew Whalen, physical therapist and manager of Sentara Therapy Center - Ward’s Corner. “MRIs and CTs can give you clearer images of soft tissue, but ultrasound is quicker and cheaper. More often than not you won’t need that next level of imaging.”

In addition to being less expensive and more convenient, other benefits of diagnostic ultrasound include:

• No exposure to radiation, unlike with X-rays and CT scans
• The ability to provide guided dry needling, increasing the accuracy of needle placement
• Dynamic images that show movement in real-time, allowing physical therapists to see how muscles, tendons and ligaments act when moved or under a load

Making care more accessible

Ultrasound has the potential to improve the quality of physical therapy care offered by Sentara therapy centers. It is particularly beneficial in rural and underserved areas, where access to advanced imaging facilities is often limited. 

That’s why Sentara has made it a priority to get MSK diagnostic ultrasound into clinics and training PTs to use it. According to Dr. Whalen, 15 Sentara physical therapy clinics currently have an ultrasound unit, and approximately 22 providers have undergone ultrasound training. 

“Ultrasound helps diagnose significantly better than any hands-on assessment can do, and patients are grateful that we have this service because of the immediate access and lower costs,” says Dr. Whalen. “We want this across all our clinics, to get as much coverage as possible.”

Talk to your provider to learn more about diagnostic ultrasound and other therapy services.