Electro Therapy

At Re-live Orthopaedic Physiotherapy &Wellness Clinic we provide individualized services ,focusing on your needs & goal.

We start with an initial assessment by a orthopaedician /physiotherapist & develop a treatment plan supporting your objectives in rehabilitation & recovery.

To guide you through to complete health we may include the following tools:

• Electro therapy
• Exercise therapy or
• a combination of both for great results

Electro Therapy - Use of electrical modalities to reduce pain, spasm & accelerate healing, including:

1. SWD
2. IFT
3. Ultrasound
4. Moist heat
5. Electrical stimulation Faradic/ Galvanic
6. TENS
7. Cryotherapy
8. Wax bath
9. Traction

1. Short Wave Diathermy (SWD) (15 minutes)

Used at frequency of 27.12MHz with a wave length of 11m is a modality that provides as deep a form of heat as any available to the Physiotherapist. This is particularly valuable for lesions of deeply placed structures & muscles which cannot be easily reached through other forms of electrotherapy.eg: hip joint /shoulder joint.

Therapeutic Uses

• Helps in reducing inflammation.
• Helps in reducing pain, gives a sedative effect. Shows great results in reducing chronic pain
• Helps in traumatic conditions
• Reduces healing time.
• Tissue Muscle relaxation accelerated - May be of value in treatment of Bacterial infection such as Boils, Carbuncle & Abscesses

2. Inter Ferential Therapy (IFT)- (15minutes)

This is a form of electrical treatment in which two medium frequency currents are used to produce a low frequency effect.
IFT produces interference(Treatment)in patient's tissues , applied to an area where treatment is required ,crossing two medium frequencies to create a beat frequency to achieve the desired effect.

Therapeutic effects

• Helps in relief of pain, both acute & chronic.
• Stimulates muscles to a tolerable level in order to reduce pain, swelling and exudate
• Reduces inflammation
• Accelerates the body own reactions to produce healing.

3. Ultra Sound (10 minutes)

Ultrasound is a sound frequency well above the hearing limits. It includes a therapeutic frequency in the region of 1 Mhz or 3Mhz.
The frequency of ultrasound used in Physiotherapy is at therapeutic level, causing a vibratory micro massage like effect at the tissue level.

Therapeutic effects

• Used for acute injuries including sports injuries.
• Redues acute/chronic swelling
• Makes scar tissue pliable
• Can be used on small joints-fingers & toes
• Increases rate of healing.
• Reduces pain and stiffness

4. Moist Heat (20-25 minutes)

This consist of silicate gel enclosed in a cotton fabric container. This gel will absorb large quantities of water ,which when hot , provides a considerable store of heat energy. They are heated by being placed in a special tank of water warmed to 75 -80 degree centigrade. by an electric heater controlled by a thermostat.

Therapeutic use

• Increase the temperature of the area increasing blood supply accelerating healing.
• Increase suppleness of muscles.
• Decrease spasm by relaxing the muscle.
• Softens & helps in elongation of muscle fibers through relaxation.
• Reduces pain
• Usually used for chronic pain .
• Contours to the shape of the area being treated.
• It uses the effect of steam to relax the muscle fiber at difference depths.

5. Electrical Stimulation (20 minutes)

This treatment involves usage of two types of current.

Fardiac Currrent is a short duration interrupted direct current with a frequency of 50-100Hz and pulse duration 0.1-1ms. This type of current can produce contraction of muscles which have good nerve supply usually helping in re-education of muscle individual or as a group.

Therapeutic uses:

• Training a new muscle action
• Re-training of muscles group post surgery
• Reduction in limb edema.
• Strengthening and re-education of pelvic floor musculature
• Re -education of muscles post paralysis by using motor point stimulation. eg.Bell's palsy
• Helps in prevention and loosening of tightness/stiffness

Galvanic Current is a direct current applied constantly at the area for the desired time set usually 10-20 mins.

Therapeutic uses:

• Used to stimulate and re- educate partially or completely damaged nerves post trauma
• Used to produce contractions of denervated muscles
• Helps in restoring the properties of contractility and elasticity in injured or semi paralysed muscles.

6. Trans Cutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulation (TENS)(15 minutes)

Tens is the application of a pulsed rectangular wave via surface electrode on the patient skin.

Therapeutic uses:

• Helps in reducing pain in chronic pain syndrome.
• Gives an acupuncture like effect.
• Given for the pain of nerve origin.
• Reduces tingling sensation or nerve irritation.
• Can be given on the trigger point of pain

7. Cold Therapy (Cryotherapy) (20-30 minutes)

This treatment includes conduction of heat from skin to the ice, in order to melt it. Most common method of application of cold to the body is ice therapy. Often the skin temperature is reduced to 10 degree centigrade.

Therapeutic effects

• Reduces acute pain- used for sports injuries.
• Reduces spasticity.
• Reduces muscles spasm.
• Reduces swelling.
• Promotes healing.
• Provides a stimulus response for inhibited muscle.

8. Paraffinwax Therapy (20 minutes)

This therapy includes applying conducted heat with the help of molten wax usually maintained at a temperature of 40-44 degree centigrade .This method of heating the tissue has the advantage of being the most convenient way of applying conducted heat to the extremities. As the wax solidifies on the part of the body where it is applied it releases its energy as latent heat which is then conducted into tissues thus helping in healing.

Therapeutic uses

• Helps in increasing blood supply to area, thus increases healing & reduces pain
• Has a sedative effect on sensory nerve.
• Reduce stiffness of joints.
• Makes the skin moist & pliable.
• Accelerates healing by process of heating the tissues.

9. Traction: (15 minutes)

This includes application of mechanical force to the body in a way that separates the joint surfaces and elongates the surrounding soft tissues. Two types of traction

• Cervical (for neck)
• Lumbar (for back)

Threrapeutic uses:

• Reduces muscle spasm.
• Relives spinal nerve compressions.
• Increases the joint and disc space.
• Improves the range of motion.
• Releases the adhesions around the spinal joints.
• Decrease the stress on the joints & structures around.
• Reduces numbness and radiating pain spreading to arm, hand, / legs.