“Aren’t there any other treatments that might supplement exercises to help optimize tissue healing?”
Ultrasound is a common tool used in athletic training and PT offices for decades now. While it’s not a “magic bullet” of any sort, and many poorly done studies have suggested it’s not effective, we do have some good evidence behind proper use of the ultrasound to try to benefit tissue recovery/healing. It’s not something appropriate for every case or for even most cases necessarily but it’s available as an adjunct when needed.
Most people are familiar with “ultrasound” as the thing done to view a growing baby in a pregnant mom. Therapeutic ultrasound is essentially the same technology, using sound waves, but with a very different frequency than diagnostic type ultrasounds. Our US works at 1 MHz (deeper tissues ~ 3-5cm deep) and 3 MHz (superficial tissues ~ 1-3cm deep). Ultrasound has been shown to increase local blood flow, improve extensibility of connective tissues, increase local oxygenation of cells, reduce pain transmission in nerve fibers, and improve cellular waste product removal among others.
