Evidence-Based Use of Therapeutic Modalities Online CE Course

This package includes the following:

• 20 online articles from Sports Medicine Research
• Online continuing education exam

Therapeutic modalities, ranging from ice bags to laser therapy, are an important tool in a clinician’s toolbox for managing pain, promoting recovery after exercise, reducing muscle inhibition prior to exercises, and possibly managing postconcussion symptoms. New claims and old ideas about therapeutic modalities constantly influence their clinical use.

Evidence-Based Use of Therapeutic Modalities Online CE Course provides a comprehensive review of the use of common therapeutic modalities such as ultrasound, laser therapy, cryotherapy, and thermal agents. A series of 20 articles summarize the research, offer a clinical appraisal, and indicate the clinical relevance of the study. Using existing studies and current research, you’ll understand how to correctly apply therapeutic modalities in actual practice.

This course supports the initiative in the athletic training profession to integrate the best new research and evidence into clinical decision making with the goal of improving patient outcomes.

Once you complete the readings and pass the 100-question exam, you can print a certificate for continuing education credits.

Learning Objectives

• Identify the optimal applications and clinical situations for the use of cryotherapy.
• Describe the benefits and challenges of using alternative approaches to ultrasound therapy.
• Implement alternative electrotherapy treatments outside the standard applications.
• Identify patient populations that may be responsive to laser therapy and implement these modalities appropriately.

Audience

Certified athletic trainers and athletic therapists.

Article 1: Intramuscular Temperature Changes During and After Cryotherapy in Healthy Individuals
Article 2: Are Current Cryotherapy Protocols Sufficient to Reduce Microvascular Blood Flow?
Article 3: Cold-Water Immersion for Preventing and Treating Muscle Soreness After Exercise
Article 4: Colder May Not Be Cool for Recovery
Article 5: Cool It Down Before You Work It Out
Article 6: Reevaluating RICE for Ankle Sprains
Article 7: Should Athletes Return to Sport After Applying Ice?
Article 8: Whole-Body Cryotherapy on Proprioception and Muscle Damage
Article 9: Nonthermal Ultrasound Could Help Keep Your Reflexes From Inhibiting Your Rehab
Article 10: Hands Off the Hands-Free Ultrasound If You Are Looking for Deep Heating Effects
Article 11: Quadriceps Inactivation? Shake It Off
Article 12: Attractive Treatment Option for Patients Suffering From mTBI-Related Headaches
Article 13: TENS to Treat Knee-Pain-Induced Quadriceps Inhibition?
Article 14: A More Effective Way to Enhance Cross-Education
Article 15: “Shock”ingly No Improvements in Ankle Sprain Outcomes
Article 16: Think Before You Soak
Article 17: More Oxygen Please
Article 18: Can Laser Therapy Be Used to Treat Meniscal Injuries?
Article 19: Low-Level Laser Therapy for Achilles Tendinitis
Article 20: Iontophoresis for Drug Delivery: Does It Really Work?

Jeffrey B. Driban, PhD, ATC, is an assistant professor in the division of rheumatology at Tufts University School of Medicine and a member of the special and scientific staff at Tufts Medical Center. The goal of his research is to explore novel biochemical and imaging markers to gain a better understanding of osteoarthritis pathophysiology and potential disease phenotypes.

Driban received his bachelor’s degree in athletic training from the University of Delaware. During his doctoral training at Temple University, he focused on various aspects of osteoarthritis (e.g., early pathophysiology in animal models, biochemical markers in joint fluid, systematic reviews of risk factors for osteoarthritis, survey of medication use among patients with osteoarthritis). In January 2010, he began a postdoctoral research fellowship in the division of rheumatology at Tufts Medical Center, where he continued his focus on osteoarthritis and learned new assessment strategies in magnetic resonance imaging.

Stephen Thomas, PhD, ATC, is an assistant professor at Temple University. Thomas received his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in athletic training from Temple University. He then received his PhD in biomechanics and movement science from the University of Delaware. Before working at Neumann University, Thomas performed a postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Pennsylvania in the department of orthopedic surgery and biomedical engineering, where he received a Ruth L. Kirschstein Research Grant from the National Institutes of Health. He has served on several national committees and is the chair of the research committee for the American Society of Shoulder and Elbow Therapists.

Thomas continues to be active in the area of research, participating as a manuscript reviewer for several peer-reviewed journals. He is on the executive board for Athletic Training and Sports Health Care. He also was an ad hoc grant reviewer for the EATA and is the cofounder of a website dedicated to the summary of sports medicine research called Sports Medicine Research (Sports Medicine Research, www.sportsmedres.org). Thomas has numerous peer-reviewed publications and abstracts on shoulder adaptations due to overhead throwing and on the basic science of rotator cuff injury and healing. He has also had several invited lectures throughout the United States in the area of overhead throwing.