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Blood Flow Restriction

Improving muscular strength is an important goal of physical therapy. Symptoms such as pain and stiffness are common road blocks to building strength when recovering from injury.

Blood Flow Restriction (BFR) Training is a new training strategy that utilizes a specialized tourniquet system to limit blood flow to the muscle. Research has shown that this technique allows patients to achieve greater gains in muscle strength and hypertrophy while lifting significantly less weight, reducing the overall stress on the limb.

Proven to be completely safe in clinical practice, BFR can stimulate muscle growth in populations ranging from the elderly, to the elite athlete, to those with chronic musculoskeletal conditions and can reduce muscle atrophy in the post-surgical patient.

Compared to traditional low-load strengthening, Blood Flow Restriction Rehabilitation is more effective with less side effects, helping people to get back to doing what they love, faster.

Conditions that can be treated with BFR Training:

  • Total hip/knee replacement
  • Rotator cuff tear/tendonitis
  • ACL repair/reconstruction
  • Osteoarthritis
  • Achilles tendinopathy
  • Lateral Epicondylitis (Tennis Elbow)
  • Medial Epicondylitis (Golfer’s Elbow)
  • Bone fractures
  • Reduced weight-bearing protocols
  • Generalized weakness and deconditioning

Benefits of Blood Flow Restriction Training:

  • Improved athletic performance
  • Improved cardiovascular endurance (VO2 Max)
  • Increased strength and muscle growth
  • Decreased muscle soreness as compared to traditional strengthening
  • Faster bone healing times
  • Increased collage and protein synthesis
  • Increased tendon thickness/stiffness

To find out which locations offer this treatments, please visit our locations page.

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Frequently Asked Questions

  • If we are asking you to do something that is hurting too much, let us know! Physical therapy should not be severely painful. It is not common to be so sore that patients are in pain or it affects their daily life. If this ever happens during or after an appointment, let us know and we will adapt your program.

  • We recommend budgeting 40-60 minutes for a typical therapy session. The only exception to this will be your first visit, which can take about 20 minutes longer due to the physical therapy evaluation your therapist will provide. We also recommend showing up about 10-15 minutes early to your first visit. This way, you can complete the paperwork before your visit time and streamline the process.

  • A typical order for physical therapy will ask for 2-3 visits per week for 4-6 weeks. Sometimes the order will specify something different. What generally happens is for the first 2-3 weeks, we recommend 3x per week. This is because it will be the most intensive portion of your treatment. After that, it is common to taper to 2x weekly, based on your level of function and progress.

  • Yes. Physical therapy works based on the science of how the body rebuilds and heals. The biggest killer of progress is inconsistency. We recommend adhering to your prescribed sessions agreed upon in your PT Eval to achieve desired results.

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