Broadly speaking, IMS treatment can be a very effective method for treating pain in your muscles, joints, and tendons, especially when the communication between the nerves and the muscles are part of the problem.
If you have muscle tension, tightness, or soreness that refuses to go away and seems to linger or get worse when you’re just trying to go about your day, IMS therapy may be the fastest way to help the problem. Getting help from a physiotherapist trained in IMS treatment and in how to assess these issues will help you determine your best course of action.
When the issue causing your pain is involved with the communication between the nerves and the muscles, IMS therapy may offer your best chance at fast relief.
This is because IMS treatment can play a role in improving muscle activation potential. This is the amount of nerve activity that occurs at a particular muscle. An example of IMS influencing this is when muscles are weakened due to prolonged inactivity. If you are recovering from a severe injury like a broken bone and have gone several weeks to months with a cast, unable to use the muscles surrounding the injured area, IMS physiotherapy can help you rebuild the strength of these muscles and tendons in combination with a strengthening program. IMS will increase the activation potential of the muscles surrounding the previously broken bone, helping improve your strength.
If you have jaw pain, ankle pain, shoulder pain, back pain, elbow pain, knee pain, or pain almost anywhere else, IMS treatment can be targeted to that specific area. Sometimes it is also helpful to be used on the surrounding areas. Often, the ‘compensating muscles’ nearby the site of injury will play a role in your pain. Your physiotherapist will be sure to assess and address these areas as well as your specific needs to create an individualized plan just for you!
IMS treatment has been used with great success to treat conditions such as:
- Deep tissue pain – when pain feels under the surface, deep in the muscles
- Chronic low back pain
- Tennis elbow
- Fibromyalgia
- Injuries from car accidents or the workplace
- Headaches
Read the caption on this post by Infinity Physio Centre to learn more about how IMS works: