Brookings Health Launches Blood Flow Restriction Therapy Services

  • February 08, 2023
: A patient performs a low-intensity exercise while wearing a blood flow restriction tourniquet under the supervision of Physical Therapist Stanley Halseide at Brookings Health’s outpatient therapy gym. Blood flow restriction therapy, a newly added rehabilitative service at Brookings Health System, helps patients rebuild muscle and bone while performing light exercise. The therapy technique benefits patients who have chronic weakness or who cannot bear weight due to injury or surgery.
A patient performs a low-intensity exercise while wearing a blood flow restriction tourniquet under the supervision of Physical Therapist Stanley Halseide at Brookings Health’s outpatient therapy gym. Blood flow restriction therapy, a newly added rehabilitative service at Brookings Health System, helps patients rebuild muscle and bone while performing light exercise. The therapy technique benefits patients who have chronic weakness or who cannot bear weight due to injury or surgery.

Brookings Health System’s rehabilitative services now offers blood flow restriction (BFR) therapy, a rehabilitative technique that helps patients repair and strengthen muscle and bone while performing low-intensity exercises.

BFR uses a specialized tourniquet cuff that restricts blood flow by 50 to 80%, depending on the area being treated. The tourniquet reduces just enough blood flow to create a positive, muscle growth response in a leg or arm. Under natural circumstances, muscle growth requires intense exercise. With BFR, muscle growth happens with light exercise.

“BFR works well for patients who can not bear weight after surgery or an injury, such as an ACL tear or a leg fracture. It also benefits patients with limitations due to chronic weakness or osteoarthritis. The therapy helps patients either maintain or build their muscle strength. By restricting blood flow to the affected area, they reap the benefits of a high-intensity workout while performing low-intensity exercise,” said Physical Therapist Stanley Halseide, DPT.

BFR sessions are scheduled two to three times per week. During a BFR session, a trained physical therapist monitors a patient’s performance to ensure a limb does not have too much pressure applied to it. Halseide, who is also a board-certified orthopedic clinical specialist and a certified athletic trainer, is certified to administer BFR at Brookings Health.

Individuals interested in BFR may call Brookings Health System’s Rehabilitative Services at (605) 696-8060 to learn if they are a good candidate for the therapy technique. A physician referral is required for physical therapy services. More information about physical therapy is also available online at brookingshealth.org/PT.

About Brookings Health System

Brookings Health System, located in Brookings, South Dakota, includes a 49-bed hospital, the 79-bed The Neighborhoods at Brookview nursing home, Brookhaven Estates senior living apartments, Yorkshire Eye Clinic, and medical clinics in Arlington, White and Volga, South Dakota. It is a non-profit, city-owned facility that offers the community a full range of inpatient, outpatient, emergency and extended care services. Brookings Hospital provides local access to doctors in Brookings and offers robotic da Vinci surgery and Mako robotic-arm assisted procedures, making it one of the premier rural community hospitals in South Dakota. For more information about the services offered at Brookings Health System, please call (605) 696-9000 or visit us on the Web at brookingshealth.org.