A professional ice hockey player injured his vastus intermedius muscle during competition and needed to jump off the ice due to the contusion injury. He received LymphaTouch-device treatment followed by Cryonic ultracold to relieve swelling and pain for 4 days. In ultrasound (US) photos, the prominent contusion injury is marked with red arrows (days 1 and 4).
| Day1 | Day 4 | Day 8 |
PhysioTouch- and Cryonic ultracold treatments were started on the first day of injury approximately 6 hours after first aid (RICE, US photo at day 1). The athlete used crutches due to pain for 2 days.
According to the patient’s sensations, pain reduced after the first treatment (VAS 8 ->5,5). The contusion injury of vastus intermedius muscle recovered on the tissue level in 8 days with no obvious scar tissue formation at the injury site. The injured muscle tolerated light stretching on post-injury day 4. The athlete returned to sports on post-injury day 9.
Conclusion
According to my clinical evaluation, the combined LymphaTouch- and Cryonic ultracold treatments speeded up the recovery of contusion trauma significantly from the typical 3-week recovery time. The athlete could continue light exercise already on post-injury day 5, and returned to sports on post-injury day 9.
Tiina Laitala, Docent, ATC
University of Turku