“Shocking” News on Electrotherapy

Ever seen those late night advertisements promising you six-pack abs from sitting on the couch with an electric stimulator? Well, they don’t work. But electrotherapy is widely recognized as being a useful tool in rehabilitation. It won’t give you rock-hard muscles without the work, but it is often used in physical therapy to help alleviate pain, control inflammation, and stimulate muscles that are underdeveloped.

The American Physical Therapy Association recognizes electrotherapy as an effective method of reducing edema that is often associated with an injury. Research shows that the low-level electric current can induce blood and lymphatic flow. The stagnancy of these fluids is what is known as edema, when there is an accumulation of fluid underneath the skin. Edema is commonly seen in acute injury, or in chronic conditions such as lymphedema.

Underdeveloped muscles may be stimulated with neuromuscular electrostimulation (NMES) devices. Essentially what these devices do is send an impulse through the skin to the underlying muscles. For people that have significant muscle atrophy, or weakening of the muscles, this stimulation can help tone the muscles. NMES devices are really only effective on people who have a less than normal level of muscle tone, and they are capable of bringing those muscles up to a more normal level of tone. NMES devices are not a replacement for exercise and strength training, as some marketing companies may have you believe.

Another popular use of electrotherapy in the realm of physical therapy is for pain management. In particular, a device known as a trans-epidermal neurostimulator (TENS) device may be used. This category of equipment sends electric impulses across the skin, but not deep enough to stimulate the muscle lying deeper under the skin. The TENS device activates certain nerve fibers that are responsible for feeling vibrations and deeper impulses. When these nerve fibers are activated, they send signals to the brain that the body is experiencing this sense of vibration. This effectively masks the feeling of pain, which is sent by a different group of nerve fibers. Of course, it is important to recognize the original cause of the pain. Simply masking the pain is only a temporary relief, but it is relief nonetheless.

Another common use of electrotherapy is in the administration of pain medications. Through a process called iontophoresis, physical therapists as well as physicians are able to administer pain medication across the skin, without the use of oral medications or intravenous medications. This allows the patient to receive pain medications directly at the site of pain.

Electrotherapy is becoming more commonly used in health care. There is a lot of evidence from research that shows it is effective, and physical therapists in particular use it quite a bit.

Central Florida Foot & Ankle Center, LLC
101 6th Street N.W.
Winter Haven, FL 33881
Phone: 863-299-4551
http://www.FLFootandAnkle.com