Ascent Physical Therapy is pleased to offer our clients the opportunity to work with real-time ultrasound imaging for both the assessment and treatment of the lumbopelvic core muscles. We are the only clinic in Nevada, and one of only a handful of clinics throughout the entire country, using this technology in this manner.

This innovative use of an established technology allows us to observe the recruitment of the deep stabilizing muscles and the loading of fascia as it occurs in real time.

Current research in the field of movement dysfunction associated with injury, chronicity, and recurrence suggests that the primary neuromuscular impairment in patients with low back, neck or pelvic girdle pain (with or without urinary incontinence) is not weakness, but rather a deficit in the low threshold or low load recruitment of the local and global stabilizing muscles. In the lumbopelvic region, these deep or inner 'core' muscles are critical for stabilizing the spinal column and pelvis and should contract prior to any movement or loading. Real-time ultrasound allows us to observe the function of these deep muscles (predominantly transversus abdominis, the pelvic floor and the deep fibers of the multifidus) to ensure that their timing and recruitment are appropriate for the task being performed.

In addition to its role in assessment, real-time ultrasound imaging is used in our clinic as a biofeedback tool for re-educating the proper timing and sequencing of muscle contraction during exercises. Recent research has shown that in as little as 10 proper repetitions, your brain begins to remember the ideal way to use the deep muscle system and their recruitment becomes more automatic.

Last Updated: July 27, 2010
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