Home | About ESMPT | Services | Patient Info | Blog | Contact
Facebook Twitter Instagram Call Us! Gainesville - (571) 261-9900 or click below to request online! Request an Appointment (click here)

Blood Flow Restriction Therapy

 

What is Blood Flow Restriction Therapy (BFRT)?

 
This innovative evidence-based therapy provides as way for our patients with exercise restrictions to achieve quicker strengthening and recovery. BFRT is a way to avoid the demands of a normal strength training method by instead producing significant gains with the use of a tourniquet to restrict blood flow. To achieve results with regular strength training, a person has to follow fairly rigorous guidelines for the amount of weight they lift and the number of repetitions they do. However, patients who are recovering from an injury or surgery, or who are otherwise limited in their ability to lift, often have trouble meeting the performance requirements needed to get good results. Thankfully, the revolutionary BFRT technique can be put to use in the athletic or clinical setting to produce similar reulsts with much lower weights. this makes more accessible to those with physcial setbacks. BFRT offers a less stressful and challenging way to recover, strengthen, and avoid muscle atrophy. 

 

 

How Does Blood Flow Restriction Work?

In a BFRT session, a patient will wear a pressure tourniquet around the extermity of the targeted location. The venous blood flow, which is the blood flowing towards the heart should be fully restricted but the arterial blood flow which is flowing toward the extremity shoulder only be partially restricted. Your experienced therapist in BFRT will know how to set the levels correctly to get you the best results. Once the tourniquet cuff is in place, the patient will work out under the guidance of their professional guide, such as a trainer or a physcial therapist. Exercises generally include a high number of repetitions with a very light weight. The number of repetitions and the frequency of the workout will depend on the program that's designed specially for the patient by the treating spealist. 

 

Benefits of Blood Flow Restriction

Perhaps the biggest benefit of BFRT is that it provides a safe and comfortable path to recovery for patients who are struggling with other rehabilitation methods. As mentioned before, BFRT is more accessible than traditional weight training, and as such it can be useful for anyone who is limited in their ability to perform exercise can benefit from BFRT. This includes athletes or non-athleties, who are recovering from an injury: post-operative patients who are working on regaining strength in their muscles; those recovering from an achilles tendon rupture, an ACL repair, or joint replacements, and patients with osteoarthritis.