Blood Flow Restriction Therapy (BFR)

I have been using Blood Flow Restriction (BFR) with my clients since 2018 and have seen incredible results. We are continuously learning different ways that BFR can be used and beneficial for rehab, training, and now even recovery. If you’re a PT and not using BFR, you’re doing your clients a disservice. 

BFR rehabilitation is the brief and intermittent occlusion of venous blood flow using a pneumatic tourniquet cuff to the proximal portion of an extremity and applying pressure to partially impede arterial blood flow to the limb while exercising. We can then use a lighter intensity or resistance but still simulate a hypertrophy (size) and strength response.

More and more practices, trainers, teams, and athletes are using BFR and there continues to be more and more clinical research that shows incredible results. It is beneficial to accelerate healing, strength gains, decrease pain, increase muscle endurance, promote bone healing, and increase vascularity throughout the limb which has now been shown to speed up recovery especially after training or games. 

If you or anyone you know is rehabbing from a surgery, has pain from a tendinitis or tendinopathy, or is looking to accelerate healing and recovery from training, BFR should be used!