Why Handheld Ultrasound Is “the Next Big Thing” for Physical Therapy

Book a 1-on-1 Clarius demo: https://clarius.com/getdemo During most of his time as a physical therapist, Dr. Ian Young, DSc, PT, Dip. Osteopractic, RMSK relied on palpation, landmarking, and MRI reports to determine and carry out a treatment plan for his patients. Then he had an ultrasound-guided knee injection in an orthopedic office and saw the possibilities for his practice. "I thought this is really cool; I can see the needle go in and where the fluid’s going in and the patella tendon and I can see the joint. It really opened my eyes to the possibility that this was something that I could get into because we do a lot of dry needling and soft tissue treatments that we could monitor before and after,” Ian explains. He began his ultrasound training journey about seven years ago and after lots of courses and practice, he and his business partners use ultrasound every day on every patient and to teach other physiotherapists. "As you move along over the years and you get the right training, ultrasound is imperative, imperative to my clinical practice. But it was definitely a challenging road to get here. I think that happens with most clinicians when they are just getting started. But once you get it, it’s going to be part of your practice no matter what.” Dr. Young uses the Clarius L15 HD3 and C3 HD3 wireless handheld ultrasound systems as well as a cart-based system at his practice in Savannah, Georgia where he sees 10-15 patients a day. He also uses Clarius scanners for ultrasound courses where he and his team teach 15-45 physiotherapists ultrasound-guided dry needling, musculoskeletal ultrasound, diagnostic musculoskeletal ultrasound for the upper extremity, lower extremity spine, and some regenerative processes. "It’s really new for a lot of the physical therapists around the country, really around the world,” Ian says. “And it’s become an exciting thing because we really think it’s the next big thing for physical therapy, and we want to make it almost just a normal thing to have in your clinic. If you don’t have ultrasound and you’re not doing diagnostic ultrasound, then you’re way behind.” Watch this 5-minute video to see what Dr. Young says about his experience using the Clarius wireless handheld ultrasound system and how it compares to his cart-based system.