I suppose this idea isn't exactly new. I remember years ago buying an "ultrasonic" massager for my knees. I think it was called a Novafon or something similar. I've still got it somewhere, I'll have to try and find it.
The point is it was supposed to produce sound waves which penetrated through the tissues and somehow stimulated blood-flow and promoted healing. I was a bit desperate at the time and went for it.
Wasn't bad actually as I recall. Still didn't prevent me from having my knees replaced eventually.
Sorry, getting off the point a bit. I was reminded of all this today when I chanced upon an article in The Mail Online by Roger Dobson. Sound wave therapy is now being used by Doctors as a treatment for chronic back pain.
This works by generating heat in the deep tissues, which apparently de-activates the nerves in the spine transmitting the pain.
A big benefit of this procedure for alleviating the symptoms of back pain is that it is non-invasive and cost effective compared to surgery. Although it involves the use of an MRI scanner.
the results seem pretty impressive, with an overall 62% decrease in back pain, and a 55% decrease in disability.
An interesting footnote to this article reports that scientists have discovered that spearmint tea can ease the pain of arthritis. Specifically osteoarthritis of the knees.
Pity I didn't know about that when I was going through my knee problems. Anyway, it's an interesting piece, if you want to read it all click here.
Enjoy the rest of your day, I'm now going to re-do the pointing the scaffolders made a total mess of when they removed their scaffolding. It's not ladder work, so with any luck I won't put my back out!
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