Diathermy Machine,
Diathermy is a therapeutic treatment using high-frequency electric current to stimulate heat generation within body tissues
commonly used for muscles and joint conditions, the heat can help with various process i.e
Increasing blood flow
Relieving pain
Improving the mobility of tissues as they heal.
Types of diathermy
(A) Shortwave (B) Ultrasound (C) Microwave
Shortwave
It uses high-frequency electromagnetic energy to generate heat. may be applied in pulsed or continuous energy waves
Used to treat pain from kidney stones and pelvic inflammatory disease, commonly used for conditions that causes pain and muscle spasms such as sprains, strains, bursists, tenosynovitis .
Microwave
It uses microwaves to generate heat in the body, used to evenly warm deep tissue without heating the skin.
Since it cannot penetrate deep muscles best suited for areas that are closer to the skin such as the shoulders
Ultrasound
It uses sound waves to treat deep tissue, heat is generated by the vibration of the tissue promoting blood flow into the area
Used for: Musculoskeletal sprains
Strains
Muscle spasms
Joint contractures or adhesions
Neuromas
How it works
It uses high-frequency electric current to produce heat deep inside a targeted tissue, can reach areas as deep as two inches beneath the skin’s surface.
It doesn’t apply heat directly to the body instead the waves generated by the machine allow the body to generate heat from within the targeted tissue.
Diathermy is usually part of a complete physical therapy or rehabilitative regimen frequency and length of treatment vary
Benefits of diathermy
Treating injuries with heat can increase blood flow and make connective tissue more flexible.
Can minimize inflammation and reduce the incidence of edema or fluid retention by increasing blood flow to the site of an injury,
the deep heat generated with diathermy can accelerate healing
Risks of diathermy
It can cause extreme heat in metal device such as dental filings, bone pins, metal sutures thus burning tissue near the metal devices.
Using it can cause your body to act as an electric field, touching any metal device can cause electric shock
Should be avoided over open growth plates in children
How to prepare for diathermy
Before a diathermy session you must remove: All metal jewelry
Clothing that has metallic devices such as zippers or buttons
Accessories containing metal
It can be used to treat the following conditions:
Arthritis Muscle spasm
Back pain Myositis
Fibromyalgia Neuralgia
Sprains and strains Tenosynovitis
Tendonitis Bursitis
