Blog Posts

Muscle ultrasound isn’t about producing perfect images—it’s about asking the right clinical questions. This article explores a structured, evidence-informed approach to muscle ultrasound that prioritizes technique, context, and clinical reasoning to support injury assessment, rehab progression, and return-to-play decisions in real sport environments.

Most scanning mistakes aren’t “probe problems.” They’re physics problems - and they change diagnoses. MSK ultrasound is powerful because it’s portable and real-time - but it’s also criticized as user-dependent. The difference between “seeing” and “misreading” is often whether the clinician recognizes artifacts and knows how to fix them. Ultrasound Beam Focusing and Steering Across Depth Section 1 - The uncomfortable truth: ultrasound is user-dependent Ultrasound isn’t a came

Muscle strain injuries are among the most common issues seen across sport. They sideline sprinters, footballers, rugby players, endurance athletes, and weekend warriors alike. Clinicians often focus on restoring strength, reducing symptoms, and progressing running loads. But in recent years, advanced imaging and access to especially musculoskeletal ultrasound has revealed a more complicated truth: Large-scale injury surveillance data from professional soccer highlight the mag

Athletic Trainers cannot take the RMSK exam, but they can earn musculoskeletal ultrasound certification through the ARDMS MSKS/RMSKS pathway. This guide explains the official steps: SPI exam, 150 diagnostic scans, and MSKS application.

A practical, RMSK-level approach for sports clinicians Rectus Femoris Partial Tear — Serial Ultrasound Healing (Weeks 1–3) In sports medicine, ultrasound is too often treated as a one-and-done diagnostic tool . A player pulls up with anterior thigh pain → we scan → we name the pathology → we move on. But the real value of ultrasound isn’t the first scan. It’s the four, six, or ten scans that come after. Return-to-play (RTP) is ultimately about progression , load tolerance , a

Learn the full pathway to becoming RMSK-certified: prerequisites, clinical ultrasound hours, exam breakdown, pass rates, and preparation strategies. Includes details on Pura Health’s 2-day MSK ultrasound courses, soft tissue labs, and mentorship for RMSK candidates.

Ultrasound is redefining how sports clinicians track muscle healing. This post highlights how modern imaging can visualize recovery phases, monitor vascular changes, and guide safe return-to-play after rectus femoris and hamstring injuries. Real cases show how ultrasound bridges anatomy, biology, and rehab timing.

A 2021 meta-analysis comparing ultrasound and MRI found that musculoskeletal ultrasound offers equal diagnostic accuracy for full-thickness rotator-cuff tears when performed by trained clinicians. With real-time dynamic assessment, lower cost, and immediate access, ultrasound is redefining shoulder evaluation in sports medicine serving as the first-line tool for diagnosis, communication, and early rehabilitation.

A 25-year-old soccer player presented with ankle pain after an inversion injury. High-resolution ultrasound revealed a rare partial tear of the extensor digitorum longus with fascial rupture and myofascial herniation—findings missed on MRI. Dynamic scanning was key to diagnosis.

A practical look at new evidence on diagnostic ultrasound for muscle injuries how it improves accuracy, prognosis, and return-to-play decisions.

Ultrasound isn’t just about spotting muscle tears. For sports clinicians, it offers a fast, dynamic, and practical way to assess injuries, guide return-to-play decisions, and monitor recovery. This blog breaks down what every clinician should know about ultrasound in muscle injuries — from evidence-based protocols to real-world sideline impact.

Discover how musculoskeletal ultrasound helps detect stress fractures, tendinopathy, and plantar fascia injuries earlier than X-rays. A safe, portable, and cost-effective tool, ultrasound is transforming foot and ankle overuse injury management

Proximal quadriceps injuries are complex. Learn how ultrasound reveals direct vs indirect head tendon damage for better RTP decisions.

Discover how our MSK ultrasound course, built specifically for sports medicine teams, helps you assess injuries quickly, track recovery, and improve return-to-play decisions.

Discover how portable MSK ultrasound is empowering sports medicine professionals with on-the-spot injury triage, dynamic movement assessment, and precision-guided interventions. From the sidelines to the lab, learn why this “next game-changer” is revolutionizing athlete care and research.

Based on the 2025 narrative review by Hattori et al. in   Diagnostics When it comes to ankle injuries—especially in athletes—we’ve...

After years working in sports medicine on fields, in clinics, with athletes at every level I kept returning to one simple question: Are...

Ultrasound is transforming how clinicians diagnose and manage tendon injuries in athletes. This non-invasive, real-time tool allows for dynamic assessment of structures like the Achilles tendon—helping to differentiate between tendinosis, partial tears, and complete ruptures while guiding safe return-to-play decisions.

As a clinician, I’ve spent years interpreting musculoskeletal ultrasound images at the bedside. While this skill is crucial, I often...

Clinician performing an ultrasound scan on a patient’s knee, with imaging displayed on a portable screen.