E-Stim Therapy in Springdale
Whether you’re recovering from an injury or stroke or dealing with the pain of fibromyalgia or another condition, you may benefit from a physical therapy procedure called electrical stimulation, or e-stim.
E-stim sends mild electrical pulses through the skin to help stimulate injured muscles or manipulate nerves to reduce pain.
E-stim may not be appropriate for everyone, but for many people this painless procedure is accelerating recovery and providing relief from painful or uncomfortable symptoms.
What is e-stim?
E-stim uses electrical pulses to mimic the action of signals coming from neurons (cells in your nervous system). These mild electrical currents target either muscles or nerves.
E-stim therapy for muscle recovery sends signals to targeted muscles to make them contract. (Flexing your biceps is a form of muscle contraction.) By causing repeated muscle contractions, blood flow improves, helping repair injured muscles.
Those muscles also improve their strength through repeated cycles of contraction and relaxation. E-stim can also “train” muscles to respond to the body’s natural signals to contract. This is an especially helpful benefit for stroke survivors who must essentially relearn basic motor functions.
The type of e-stim that focuses on pain relief sends signals on a different wavelength, so they reach the nerves rather than the muscles. Electrical stimulation can block pain receptors from being sent from nerves to the brain.
What are the main types of e-stim?
The two main types of e-stim are transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS) and electrical muscle stimulation (EMS).
TENS
TENS may be used for chronic (long-term) pain as well as for acute (short-term) pain. Electrodes are placed on the skin near the source of the pain. Signals are sent through nerve fibers to block or at least reduce the pain signals traveling to the brain.
EMS
EMS uses a slightly stronger current than TENS to get muscles to contract. The unit’s electrodes (also placed on the skin near the affected muscles) cause rhythmic contractions. This can improve muscle strength if the user attempts to contract the muscle simultaneously.