Advantages and Uses of Electrotherapy

One of the most prominent advantages of Electrotherapy is that it is a non-invasive procedure which means that no surgical method is used to treat the relevant medical disorder. With the advances in medical science field, the scope of Electrotherapy has also expanded and now it's used for treating many specific physical and psychological disorders.

Electrotherapy is considered to be an alternative health treatment and is used to correct various medical disorders like edema, inhibited blood flow, Iontophoresis, incontinence and pain management.

Understanding Electrotherapy

In order to comprehend fully how exactly Electrotherapy works will, of course, need books and extensive education regarding the physics of electricity and neurology. However, from a common person's perspective, we may try to understand it in the following simple ways:

Low Frequency Treatment

To carry impulses from the sensory organs to the brain, the body makes use of the sensory nerves. Similarly, to carry impulses from the spinal cord to the muscles, the body uses the motor nerves. The low frequency Electrotherapy treatments are used, in general, to affect these sensory and motor nerves, where an electric current of less than a 1000 hertz is used.

Medium Frequency Treatment

The medium frequency treatment is provided with the help of a wide range of current, ranging from 1000 hertz to 10,000 hertz. This kind of treatment helps in conditions like inflammation, pain management, and muscle spasms and also to stimulate blood circulation.

High Frequency Treatment

High frequency treatment is used for muscle relaxation therapy where an electric current of above 10,000 hertz is used. This much strength of the current is required to generate the heat needed for such therapy.
 

More Applications of Electrotherapy

Auriculotherapy

Auriculotherapy, a subdivision of Electrotherapy, is now being used to treat a number of ear pain conditions such as tinnitus (noise or ringing in the ears that affects about 1 in 5 people). This kind of treatment works by applying electro stimulation to the ear.

Auriculotherapy, apart from treating auditory conditions, has also proved to be successful in treating other disorders like arthritis, carpal tunnel syndrome, irritable bowel syndrome, shingles and even in helping people to stop smoking!

Iontophoresis

The process of the delivery of pharmaceutical medication through the skin, using an electric charge, is known as Iontophoresis or EMDA. It works in a similar way as a nicotine or transdermal patch that absorbs the medication through the skin. In case of Iontophoresis, Electrotherapy assists in the absorption.

Regenerative Electrotherapy

Regenerative Electrotherapy targets the regeneration of body tissue by applying a combination of Electrotherapy techniques and the resulting regeneration of the damaged soft tissue by this kind of therapy helps in pain management and other related conditions.

Electrotherapy and TENS

Among the various electrical devices used to administer Electrotherapy, the electronic muscle stimulators are known to increase the amount of endorphins in the body, bringing about varying degrees of pain relief. One such popular muscle stimulator is commonly known as a TENS (Transcutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulation) device.

The TENS devices are primarily used for treatment of back pain as well as part of treatment for sports injuries. A TENS unit is equipped with a series of electrodes that are placed over an body area of the patient that is experiencing pain. A controlled amount of electric current is then passed through these electrodes to achieve the desired stimulation.