Guidelines

What are the approaches of electrotherapy?

What are the approaches of electrotherapy?

Trends in Electrotherapy Microcurrent therapy, extracorporeal shockwave therapy, low intensity pulsed ultrasound (LIPUS) and some new radio frequency (RF) applications are currently an emerging group of EPAs.

What is electrotherapy used for?

Electrotherapy is used for relaxation of muscle spasms, prevention and retardation of disuse atrophy, increase of local blood circulation, muscle rehabilitation, and reeducation by electrical muscle stimulation, maintaining and increasing range of motion, management of chronic and intractable pain, posttraumatic acute …

What is electrotherapy and how does it work?

TENS. TENS (Transcutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulation) is a method of providing pain relief without medication. It works by stimulating the nerves to either distract them from sending pain signals to the brain, or by stimulating the brain to produce natural painkillers, which are stored within the body.

What are the forms of DC electrotherapy?

Electric currents used in therapy are conventionally divided into three basic groups: galvanic current, pulse direct current and alternating current.

How many times a day can you use electrotherapy?

Use up to three times per day at a maximum. During each therapy, rate your pain before and after the session, 1 (low) to 10 (high) in order to gauge the true reduction of pain.

When should you not use electrotherapy?

Do not apply electrodes to areas of the body where there is known or suspected cancer. Do not use TENS if you have undiagnosed pain and a history of cancer in the last 5 years. Epilepsy. Do not apply electrodes to your head, neck or shoulders.

Does TENS use AC or DC?

At its high-voltage setting, TENS uses pulses of about 100 μS (microseconds, or millionths of a second). A circuit breaker typically takes a full alternating current (AC) cycle to trip at the maximum amperage.

Are batteries AC or DC?

Batteries and electronic devices like TVs, computers and DVD players use DC electricity – once an AC current enters a device, it’s converted to DC. A typical battery supplies around 1.5 volts of DC.

Can TENS cause nerve damage?

Can a TENS unit cause nerve damage? TENS unit is not known to cause any nerve damage. A backfire in the TENS unit might provoke an overreaction in the nerve causing some pain or discomfort, but the nerve itself is unlikely to be damaged.

What kind of electrotherapy is used in physiotherapy?

Electrotherapy is the application of low-level electrical current to the peripheral nervous and musculoskeletal systems. Electrotherapy has been a component of physiotherapy practice since the early days of the profession. Modern electrotherapy use deserves to be evidence-based and the modalities used judiciously.

When did electrotherapy become popular in the United States?

Electrotherapy became popular in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries following the invention of electrostatic generators. Electrotherapy devices should not be used near implanted or temporary stimulators because of the potential for interference with the function of these devices.

How are polarity of electrodes used in electrotherapy?

Because biphasic and polyphasic waveforms have both positively and negatively charged phases that alternate, no specific polarity can be assigned to the electrodes. In reality, only in very few situations does the specific polarity of the electrodes make a clinical difference; however, it makes a very big difference in a few.

How are DC and AC currents used in electrotherapy?

Direct currents (DC) are also used in electrotherapy; with DC, each contraction requires the current to be stopped and restarted. DC-induced contractions are strong if the muscle is strong and weak if the muscle is weak; while alternating currents (AC) produce strong muscle contractions regardless of the condition of the muscle.