Electrotherapy – The Best Treatment option For musculoskeletal

Electrotherapy is the use of electrical energy as a medical treatment.

The use of electrotherapy has been researched and accepted in the field of rehabilitation.

1. Pain management

2. Treatment of neuromuscular dysfunction

Improvement of strength
Improvement of motor control
Retards muscle atrophy
Improves local blood flow

3. Improves range of joint mobility

Induces repeated stretching of contracted, shortened soft tissues

4. Tissue repair

Enhances microcirculation and protein synthesis to heal wounds
Restores integrity of connective and dermal tissues

5. Acute and chronic edema

Accelerates absorption rate
Affects blood vessel permeability
Increases mobility of proteins, blood cells and lymphatic flow

6. Peripheral blood flow

Induces arterial, venous and lymphatic flow

7. Iontophoresis

Delivery of pharmacological agents
Electrotherapy is a most popular form of cure for the sports injuries. The therapy uses the electricity to treat the soft tissue injuries. It is available in multiple forms like:

Interferential Therapy
Ultrasound
TENS (Transcutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulation)
Laser
Shockwave
Shortwave diathermy
Galvanic stimulation
Faradic stimulation
Micro and russsian currents
Interferential Therapy
In order to create a physiological reaction a low frequency electrical stimulation of the nerves is used in IFT (Interferential Therapy). Even though low frequency electro treatments are usually linked with pain, however, Interferential Therapy intends to avert the pain as well as the unpleasant side effects. To create increased pain relief and mobility, the tissues and muscles are made to react by rhythmically increasing and decreasing the electric frequency in amplitude. For utmost effectiveness, it should be used with the combination of ultrasound. It can be used to relieve joint stiffness, pains and aches as well as to reduce swelling, speed up the recovery time and enhanced blood flow.

Ultrasound
Specifically when it comes to sports injury, one of the most commonly used forms of electrotherapy is ultrasound in the form of sound or mechanical energy. It is used at really high frequencies that are beyond the hearing capabilities of human beings. To increase the flow of blood, lessen joint stiffness and pain relief, the ultrasound wave is applied to the injured body part. To enhance the quality of the repair and amplify the rate of healing, ultrasound is always recommended. Be it tennis elbow or arthritis or any other type of sports injury, ultrasound has always proved to be one of the most promising treatments. The tissues that are more absorbent, ultrasound can treat them more effectively.

TENS (Transcutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulation)
It can be used at both low and high frequencies to relieve the pain in nerves. The treatment is less localized to the injured portion as it focuses specifically on the central nervous system. TENS is generally used to treat neck and back pain, arthritic conditions and injuries of the deep and soft tissues.