Electrical Stimulation (E-Stim) and Transcutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulation (TENS)
Zapping Pain and Retraining Muscles with Electricity
Electrical stimulation is the mockingbird of physical therapy treatments. It mimics with electrical impulses the signals of neurons, causing muscles to contract and thereby improving blood flow and helping repair injured muscles.
E-stim’s capacity for signaling muscles to contract with pulses from electrodes is helpful in stroke survivors relearning basic motor functions in because such contractions can retrain muscles to respond to the body’s natural signals.
Electrical stimulation has proved effective in easing cancer-related pain. Pulses to the nerves keep pain signals from reaching the spinal cord and brain and stimulate the body to produce more endorphins that can go to work as natural pain-relievers.
Electrical Stimulation (E-Stim) and Transcutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulation (TENS) is helpful in treating the following conditions: