A vibration therapy session at the Padda Institute in St. Louis means standing on a gently shaking platform for about ten minutes, in short sets, while you hold the rails and a technician coaches your posture. The vibration makes the small steadying muscles of the spine and legs fire again.
This is one station in our physician-directed physiotherapy program. It runs only on your physician’s written order, at the strength your physician sets.
You stand on a platform that vibrates while you hold the side rails. A technician stays beside you and corrects your stance and balance the whole time. This page covers what the session is like; for the science behind it, see our whole body vibration therapy page.
Long-lasting pain teaches the small muscles that steady the spine and joints to switch off, and the larger muscles clamp down to make up for them. The quick vibration makes those small muscles contract by reflex, again and again. Retraining nerve and muscle to work together like this is called neuromuscular re-education.
A quick, soft buzz through the feet and legs. Your knees stay a little bent. You can step off whenever you want.
One-on-one. A technician stays with you from start to finish and writes down the exact clock times it began and ended.
Each visit opens with spoken safety questions. If something has changed since last time, such as a new medicine, a new symptom or a procedure this week, the physician decides before anything starts. Say stop at any moment and it stops.
About ten minutes, split into short sets with rest between.
Show us you have it: Get into your standing position on the platform before it starts, and let us check it. If any part is unclear, ask, and we will walk through it again at your next visit.
Related reading: why losing muscle keeps pain going.
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Same-day and emergency appointments are available.