CORA offers the newest, safest technology to help our patients recover from sports injuries, joint pain, and surgery faster and with less work. Blood Flow Restriction Therapy, also known as BFR, is widely used to help patients gain strength and improve function while minimizing stress on muscles and joints. Everyone from the teenage athlete to the octogenarian can benefit.
Here’s how it works: CORA physical therapists certified in BFR use a specialized cuff to apply external pressure to an arm or a leg. The goal is to maintain blood flow into the muscle while preventing outflow. BRF has proven to be both effective and safe. For many, it delivers better results than exercise alone.
Patients who experience injuries, suffer from chronic conditions, or undergo procedures such as joint replacement surgery can get back to doing what they love faster with BFR. If your doctor has prohibited you from doing weight-bearing exercise or even if you’re in a walking boot, BRF may be the answer. It can help maintain heart health while you’re unable to do cardio, as well.
Conditions we treat with BRF include, but are not limited to:
- Decreased weight bearing
- Joint arthroplasties (joint replacements)
- Tendon repairs and reconstructions (RTC)
- Ligament reconstructions (ACL)
- Extremity fractures (closed)
- Inflammatory myopathies (muscle diseases)
- Muscle strains
- Joint sprains
- Nerve injuries (where muscle is still partially innervated)
- Osteoarthritis of the knee, hip, ankle, and shoulder
- Tendinitis (Achilles, elbow)
- Arthroscopies
- General weakness, deconditioning or sarcopenia (muscle atrophy)
- Impingement syndromes of the hip and shoulder
- Musculoskeletal trauma
- Spinal pathology (includes degenerative spine, scoliosis, more acute complex trauma)
