What Is Causing My Leg Cramps During the Night?
Leg cramps can leave you restless throughout the night, making it difficult to get any restorative sleep. Here are some potential causes of leg cramps and one way to alleviate them.
How an Ultrasound Helps Determine a Diagnosis
When people think of ultrasounds, they often think of babies and expectant parents looking forward to seeing their child for the first time on a tiny screen. However, ultrasounds are a powerful diagnostic tool, and musculoskeletal ultrasounds can be used to thoroughly examine your muscles, tendons, and joints in real time. This can help your doctor diagnose the exact cause of your pain and build a treatment plan that caters to your specific needs.
At Progressive Spine & Sports Medicine in Ramsey, New Jersey, our expert physicians use a specialized ultrasound machine to painlessly and accurately diagnose many minor and major health conditions.
Understanding ultrasounds
Ultrasound imaging, or sonography, uses high-frequency sound waves to produce live images of your internal organs and tissues. This is done using a transducer and a layer of gel. The transducer sends high-powered sound through the gel into your body and collects the sound waves that bounce back. The computer turns those waves into images we can interpret.
This technology is commonly used to monitor babies in the womb, examine tumors, diagnose health issues, view blood flow, and assess inflammation. There are no risks to ultrasound examinations, and they require very little preparation. This makes them a valuable diagnostic tool for doctors, and advanced ultrasound technology can be used to deliver specialized care.
The benefits of musculoskeletal ultrasound
A musculoskeletal (MSK) ultrasound is designed to view your muscles, tendons, and joints. Unlike MRIs and X-rays, ultrasound imagery is clear even while you’re moving. This allows us to examine your body in motion, which helps us to thoroughly diagnose any of the following issues:
- Tendon, muscle, and ligament tears
- Rotator cuff injuries
- Inflammation of the joints or bursae
- Fluid collection within the body
- Carpal tunnel syndrome
- Early rheumatoid arthritis
- Other injuries, including sports injuries
Once the issue has been diagnosed, another MSK ultrasound can help with your treatment as well. Using ultrasound imaging, doctors can guide injections with extreme precision. This allows them to deliver targeted pain relief to areas that would be difficult to locate otherwise.
Progressive Spine and Sports Medicine is one of the few clinics in New Jersey with this advanced ultrasound equipment. We provide comprehensive care for those suffering from arthritis, bursitis, tendonitis, and many other conditions.
If you’re struggling with pain, we can help you find a nonsurgical solution that works for you. To learn more about ultrasound technology and how it can help, call 201-273-9702, or request an appointment online.
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