An Orthopedic Surgeon’s Solution for Treating Soft-Tissue Injuries

About the author: Dr. Riley J. Williams III, MD is an orthopedic surgeon, academic, and clinician-scientist specializing in the field of shoulder, knee, and elbow surgery.  Since 1993, Dr. Williams has been affiliated with the Hospital for Special Surgery (“HSS”), the #1 rated Orthopedic Surgery Hospital according to U.S. News and World Report, where he is also Director of the HSS Cartilage Institute.  Dr. Williams is inventor of Therma1™ and Chief Medical Officer, Head of Product Development, and Chairman of the Board of Directors of R2T2 Laboratories Inc., the company that markets Therma1™.  Dr. Williams graduated from Yale College and Stanford Medical School, where he won top medical science research awards.  Dr. Williams is team physician for the Brooklyn Nets and NY Red Bulls, and he has been associated with professional football and baseball teams.

The Science Behind Using Hot/Cold Therapy, Compression and Massage to Heal Soft-Tissue Injuries

I am an orthopedic surgeon, sports medicine physician, advisor to elite athletes, and pro sports team doctor.  I’m also a scientist.  When I invented Therma1, I based it on the science of recovery.

It is well documented that cold therapy or compression reduces inflammatory response. Recent studies indicate that soft-tissue compression combined with local temperature alterations demonstrate significant enhancement in the healing potential of soft-tissue injuries.

It is also well known that heat therapy or compression/massage increase tissue compliance.  Studies show that controlled increases in thermal temperature have a significant effect on the tensile properties of skeletal muscle, which results in increased joint range of motion and reduced muscle tension that help reduce potential muscle strain injuries.  Other studies demonstrate that warm and more compliant muscles absorb more energy than non-stimulated muscle tissue, which results in improved resistance to biomechanical load. 

The Need for a Unique New Therapy Device Turns into an Invention

My observations of scientific evidence, decades of sports medicine experience including thousands of patients and surgeries, and dialogues with sports therapy experts such as pro sports athletic trainers, physical therapists, and chiropractors, led to the invention of the Therma1™ Hot Cold Roller.  The goal of the design was to provide all four critical musculoskeletal therapy treatment modalities (heat, cold, compression and massage) in one portable, easy-to-use device – something that no other product on the market offered.  The U.S. Patent Office recognized Therma1™’s innovative and unique qualities and granted a design patent last year.

The Therma1’s size and shape was designed specifically to make it easier to treat hard to reach spots, as well as help pinpoint trouble spots and deliver trigger point therapy. In my experience, there was a lack of products on the market with this ability.

What Makes the Therma1 Hot Cold Roller Different from...

Massagers or foam rollers?  Its ability to deliver heat and cold therapy

Ice packs and heat pads? Its ability to deliver rolling compression and massage

Continuous-flow cold therapy machines? The dynamic nature of Therma1™ Hot Cold Roller treatment modality makes the likelihood of thermal injury very low.

How to Use Therma1 in a Sports Medicine Setting

• As a natural Performance Enhancement Device (PED) – Use Therma1 before activity to increase tissue compliance.
• To treat nagging injuries, such as:
  • Patellar tendonitis
  • Calf strain
  • Shin splints
  • IT Band syndrome
  • Strains in the forearms, biceps, triceps and neck area
  • Quad and hamstring strains

Therma1™ should be used in regiments of two – ten minutes, usually in combination with static therapy.  The treatment regiments should be repeated throughout the day as desired. 

View videos that demonstrate the Therma1 in action >>

How Therma1 Benefits Athletic Trainers

• Increases patient compliance (one of the leading drags on patient recovery time is noncompliance with prescribed therapies).
• Patients can use it on themselves or athletic trainers can roll the player (patients don’t need to contort the body to apply therapy like other rollers)
• You never have to worry about frostbite or heat burns
• Non-toxic, simply rinse spills if they get on skin

Tips for Buying Therma1 Products:

Therma1™ comes in Recharge and Instant models.

Therma1™ Recharge – Comes with two rollers. The rollers can be placed in the freezer or microwave.

Therma1™ Instant - Provides portability and convenience with its Instant Hot and Cold packs.  Each Therma1™ Instant model comes with one Recharge Roller, one Instant Roller, and a dozen Instant packs. The Instant Roller has a removable end-cap that accommodates a Therma1™ Instant Hot or Cold pack.

When using Therma1 for cold therapy, keep the following in mind:

Therma1™ Recharge (freezer) achieves colder temperatures than Therma1™ Instant (cold pack).  When left in a typical freezer overnight, Therma1™ Recharge reaches sub 10 degree temperatures and holds a sub twenty degree temperature for approximately twenty minutes with recommended intermittent use (two – ten minute increments, followed by two minute “rest”).  For best results when treating acute injuries, use the Therma1™ Recharge when possible. 

If you do not have a Therma1™ Recharge handy, Therma1™ Instant with Therma1™ cold packs can be used to decrease local tissue temperatures; studies show decreases in local tissue temperatures stimulate an effective anti-inflammatory response.  However, I recommend Instant Cold packs be used only when a cold Recharge Roller is not available.

Learn more about purchasing the Therma1 Thermal Therapy Device and Watch Demonstration Videos >>

Easily Improve Your Fitness Level Using a Pedometer and These Walking Tips

Walking for Health

In our current fast paced world, we still can’t find enough time to do that one thing that we need: mild to moderate exercise repeated often. For the majority of Americans we do not need military-like fitness goals, we just need to do something actively and do it often.

Examples of lifestyle changes are common, well known and yet still underutilized, such as park the car in the last row at the mall instead of the closest row, stop the elevator one floor early and walk the stairs to your floor and walk yourself (or your dog) for that 15-30 minutes every night after dinner.

For many of us, we have grown accustomed to measuring, assessing and defining our lives and for this crowd using a pedometer is perfect. A pedometer is a device that senses your movements to tally up the number of steps you take. It can be worn, clipped, tucked or carried. Pedometers can be simple (clip it on your belt and start walking) or advanced (determine your stride length, weight, pulsating rhythm as you walk, calories burned and can be downloaded onto your computer). Choose a pedometer that has a display you can easily read in different lights, can be worn comfortably and has the features you want.

Prices range from $10 to over $100. If you are new to the walking idea and the keeping track of your “motion minutes”, start simple and move up when needed. Once you are ready to get started, try wearing it around your normal day for about 2-4 days just to see how many steps you take in a typical day. You can now begin to add steps by scheduling that 10, 20,30 minute walk and add them onto your total. If you want to measure distance instead of steps, find that local track or measured distance by car, walk the ¼ mile and see how many steps or strides it took you, multiply by 4 and there you have your mile number. Remember this is an estimate, but after all, we are in this to be in motion not measure in exact feet or yards!

According to the staff at the Mayo Clinic, you should

• Set long-term step goals. Think about your overall fitness and activity goals. Your short-term goals are the building blocks to these long-term goals. A long-term goal may be walking 10,000 steps a day, or about five miles (eight kilometers), several times a week as part of your new daily routine. You may also want to set a goal of walking faster as your fitness level improves. Keep in mind that the Department of Health and Human Services recommends that, in general, healthy adults get at least 150 minutes a week of moderate aerobic activity or 75 minutes a week of vigorous aerobic activity.
• Track your progress. To see how you're doing, monitor your progress over time. Your pedometer may or may not have a memory function to track your steps on a weekly or monthly basis. You can choose to use that feature or record your steps in a log of your own making. Or upload the information digitally to your computer or mobile device. Tracking your progress can help you see whether you're meeting your goals and when it may be time to set fresh goals.
• Check with your physician before beginning, especially if you have been sedentary for a while, have any orthopedic problems or have any medical issues that are being monitored.

To read more about different pedometers, shop Sports Health pedometers online >>