Studies indicate that low-magnitude vibration (0.3 g at 90Hz) has numerous benefits on musculoskeletal health, such as increases in strength, balance and bone density.
As one study with 116 postmenopausal women diagnosed with osteoporosis revealed, WBV increased both lumbar spine and femoral neck BMD by 4.3% and 3.2%, respectively. Furthermore, LMHFV has also been shown to promote bone formation while normalizing vascularization during fracture healing in osteoporotic animals.
What is High Frequency Vibration Therapy?
Utilizing a vibrating platform, patients can stand, sit or perform exercises such as push-ups or squats to stimulate and activate muscle tissue. Amplitude of vibration typically ranges between 30-50Hz depending on desired outcomes; vibration has been shown to activate tonic vibration reflex which increases activity of muscle spindles while decreasing firing threshold threshold thus increasing muscle power, improving joint position sense and improving ability to detect vibration from skin surface.
Local vibration therapy (LV) is an innovative physiotherapy application in which vibration stimuli are applied directly to individual muscles or tendons. Studies have demonstrated the efficacy of this technique for relieving spasticity associated with multiple sclerosis, spinal cord injury and cerebral palsy patients. One such study reported significant effects of LV on fascicle length of knee extensor muscles as well as improved lateral limits of stability; another one demonstrated how it reduced spasticity through modulating corticospinal pathway intracortical inhibition and sensory inputs into primary motor cortex – studies also involving participants’ in addition to direct stimulation of primary motor cortex.
Vibration has been found to improve bone density by stimulating mechanotransduction in osteoblasts. Additionally, vibration has been proven to promote cell proliferation and stimulate cytoskeleton activation as well as increase mitochondrial biogenesis by upregulating expression levels of AMPKa and p38 proteins in skeletal muscles.
Another advantage of vibration therapy is its ability to decrease delayed-onset muscle soreness following exercise, making it useful in both clinical rehab settings as well as high-level athletes seeking faster recoveries times. Vibration has been shown to enhance muscle oxygen use while reducing oxidative stress levels by lowering activation energy requirements when contracting the muscle, improving joint movement and blood flow through tissues.
Benefits of High Frequency Vibration Therapy
Vibration frequency therapy can provide numerous health benefits, from strengthening bones and muscles, improving posture and relieving chronic pain to alleviating effects of aging on joints and tendons, depending on its type and intensity. Vibration therapy comes in two main varieties – whole-body vibration (standing/lying on a vibrating platform) or local vibration (using handheld devices to target specific muscles and tendons). Research into its benefits continues, yet results to date have proven its promise.
Vibration has been found to stimulate mesenchymal stem cells, the progenitors for bone formation. This may be because vibration mimics mechanical signals of motion and exercise. Vibration also has effects on bone metabolism by encouraging osteoblast secretion; this process may help slow osteoporosis’s progression thereby helping prevent fractures and other serious medical conditions that occur due to low bone density.
Vibration therapy was shown to be highly effective at decreasing cancer cell count and decreasing clonogenic potential within prostate tissue, as well as decreasing extravasation from bone. Furthermore, vibration-stimulated osteocytes reduced extravasation from bones.
Sound wave therapy has the ability to alleviate pain from numerous conditions, including arthritis, fibromyalgia and joint pain, muscle spasms and headaches. Sound and vibration therapy can relax tense muscles by inducing endorphin release which acts as natural painkillers within our bodies; additionally it increases blood flow to an affected area which reduces inflammation while relieving discomfort.
Wounds can often be difficult to heal due to poor circulation, excess exudate, and necrotic tissue. Studies have demonstrated that vibration therapy can accelerate wound healing by stimulating production of nitric oxide and improving blood circulation; as well as decreasing risk of infection while speeding skin recovery time and encouraging formation of granulation tissue.
How to Get Started with High Frequency Vibration Therapy
Vibration therapy may offer some relief for mental health conditions like anxiety. It has been shown to aid sleep quality and lower stress levels, helping individuals sleep more soundly while simultaneously decreasing levels of cortisol production – thus improving mood overall. Vibration therapy also serves as an effective complement therapy alongside traditional forms of treating mental illness such as psychotherapy and medication; its increased circulation and muscle strength results make individuals more receptive to therapeutic techniques, strengthening the link between body and mind even further.
Vibrating platforms offer vibration training at different frequencies to meet individual needs and goals. Whole-body vibration training involves standing, sitting or lying on a vibrating platform while performing strength or balance exercises on it. Whole-body vibration training is generally considered safe for most healthy individuals but may take some getting used to when first beginning this type of workout routine; for this reason it’s best to start slowly while monitoring response in order to gradually build into a regular schedule safely.
Studies indicate that vibration therapy may stimulate the release of neurotransmitters like serotonin and dopamine, helping improve mood while alleviating anxiety. It may also balance hormones like cortisol to promote emotional stability and well-being. As yet untested, vibration therapy appears to support bone building through stimulating production of osteoblasts – cells responsible for creating new bone tissue.
Vibration therapy could improve muscle strength, power, and performance by increasing neuromuscular efficiency. This effect is caused by vibrations’ ability to induce rapid muscle contractions while increasing contracting motor units.
Other research indicates that vibration therapy can improve balance and decrease the risk of falls by increasing proprioception (the brain’s ability to identify and coordinate movement of joints and limbs). A study found that seniors who received vibration therapy three times weekly for six weeks experienced improved balance with reduced falls risk.
Studies have demonstrated the effects of vibration therapy in improving bone density and increasing strength in hips, spine, and femurs. Numerous mechanisms account for these benefits including increased cell activity, osteoblast activity and decreased bone turnover; furthermore these benefits likely apply to people living with genetic mutations such as osteogenesis imperfecta which causes fragility of woven bone structures as well.
What to Expect with High Frequency Vibration Therapy
Vibration therapy has been demonstrated to promote wound closure by increasing blood flow. The increased oxygen and nutrients brought in from circulation helps promote tissue growth by clearing away dead cells while simultaneously decreasing inflammation and swelling – two qualities which make vibration therapy an excellent treatment option for diabetic foot ulcers (DFUs) and venous leg ulcers (VLUs).
Vibration therapy has been demonstrated to increase muscle strength, power and joint position sense. Furthermore, vibration stimulation appears to promote increased blood flow in both skin and musculoskeletal systems due to vibration stimulation creating a reflexive effect that contributes to muscular force as well as repetitively activating primary muscle spindles.
Studies have demonstrated that whole-body low-magnitude high-frequency vibration (LMHFV) increases bone mineral density and accelerates bone formation, likely due to vibration’s ability to promote cell differentiation, communication, and reduce resorption.
Studies conducted on postmenopausal women showed that LMHFV significantly increased bone formation in dense areas of both tibia and femur bones. A randomized controlled trial confirmed this by showing increases in both their lumbar spine BMD by 4.2% and 3.2%, respectively.
An intriguing finding was that LMHFV can aid in decreasing breast cancer metastasis by decreasing tumor extravasation into bone marrow, possibly due to how it stimulates mesenchymal stem cell differentiation into induced tumor-suppressing cells that inhibit tumor cell proliferation and growth.
While vibration therapy has become widely acknowledged as a means to increase muscle strength in sedentary individuals, less is known about its potential advantages for bone health. Bone is mechanosensitive tissue which responds to external mechanical stimuli by activating specific molecular pathways.
One study demonstrated how LMHFV significantly enhanced osteogenic differentiation of bone progenitor cells, while inhibiting osteoclasts by increasing expression of RANKL in osteocytes – thus suggesting it to be an effective anabolic agent for bone repair and regeneration.
