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Diabetic neuropathy includes various types of nerve damage associated with diabetes mellitus. The most common form, diabetic peripheral neuropathy, affects 30% of all diabetic patients. Symptoms depend on the site of nerve damage and can include motor changes such as weakness; sensory symptoms such as numbness, tingling, or pain; or autonomic changes such as urinary symptoms. These changes are thought to result from a microvascular injury involving small blood vessels that supply nerves. Relatively common conditions which may be associated with diabetic neuropathy include distal symmetric polyneuropathy; third, fourth, or sixth cranial nerve palsy; mononeuropathy; mononeuropathy multiplex; diabetic amyotrophy; and autonomic neuropathy.
Functional electrical stimulation (FES) is a technique that uses low-energy electrical pulses to artificially generate body movements in individuals who have been paralyzed due to injury to the central nervous system. More specifically, FES can be used to generate muscle contraction in otherwise paralyzed limbs to produce functions such as grasping, walking, bladder voiding and standing. This technology was originally used to develop neuroprostheses that were implemented to permanently substitute impaired functions in individuals with spinal cord injury (SCI), head injury, stroke and other neurological disorders. In other words, a person would use the device each time he or she wanted to generate a desired function. FES is sometimes also referred to as neuromuscular electrical stimulation (NMES).
Plantar fasciitis or plantar heel pain is a disorder of the plantar fascia, which is the connective tissue that supports the arch of the foot. It results in pain in the heel and bottom of the foot that is usually most severe with the first steps of the day or following a period of rest. Pain is also frequently brought on by bending the foot and toes up towards the shin. The pain typically comes on gradually, and it affects both feet in about one-third of cases.
Electroacupuncture is a form of acupuncture where a small electric current is passed between pairs of acupuncture needles.
Electromyography (EMG) is a technique for evaluating and recording the electrical activity produced by skeletal muscles. EMG is performed using an instrument called an electromyograph to produce a record called an electromyogram. An electromyograph detects the electric potential generated by muscle cells when these cells are electrically or neurologically activated. The signals can be analyzed to detect abnormalities, activation level, or recruitment order, or to analyze the biomechanics of human or animal movement. Needle EMG is an electrodiagnostic medicine technique commonly used by neurologists. Surface EMG is a non-medical procedure used to assess muscle activation by several professionals, including physiotherapists, kinesiologists and biomedical engineers. In computer science, EMG is also used as middleware in gesture recognition towards allowing the input of physical action to a computer as a form of human-computer interaction.
Electrotherapy is the use of electrical energy as a medical treatment. In medicine, the term electrotherapy can apply to a variety of treatments, including the use of electrical devices such as deep brain stimulators for neurological disease. The term has also been applied specifically to the use of electric current to speed wound healing. The use of EMS is also very wide for managing muscular pain. Additionally, the term "electrotherapy" or "electromagnetic therapy" has also been applied to a range of alternative medical devices and treatments. Evidence supporting the effectiveness of electrotherapy is limited.
A nerve conduction study (NCS) is a medical diagnostic test commonly used to evaluate the function, especially the ability of electrical conduction, of the motor and sensory nerves of the human body. These tests may be performed by medical specialists such as clinical neurophysiologists, physical therapists, physiatrists, and neurologists who subspecialize in electrodiagnostic medicine. In the United States, neurologists and physiatrists receive training in electrodiagnostic medicine as part of residency training and in some cases acquire additional expertise during a fellowship in clinical neurophysiology, electrodiagnostic medicine, or neuromuscular medicine. Outside the US, clinical neurophysiologists learn needle EMG and NCS testing.
Electrical muscle stimulation (EMS), also known as neuromuscular electrical stimulation (NMES) or electromyostimulation, is the elicitation of muscle contraction using electric impulses. EMS has received an increasing amount of attention in the last few years for many reasons: it can be utilized as a strength training tool for healthy subjects and athletes; it could be used as a rehabilitation and preventive tool for people who are partially or totally immobilized; it could be utilized as a testing tool for evaluating the neural and/or muscular function in vivo. EMS has been proven to be more beneficial before exercise and activity due to early muscle activation. Recent studies have found that electrostimulation has been proven to be ineffective during post exercise recovery and can even lead to an increase in Delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS).
Dry needling, also known as trigger point dry needling and intramuscular stimulation, is a treatment technique used by various healthcare practitioners, including physical therapists, physicians, and chiropractors, among others. Acupuncturists usually maintain that dry needling is adapted from acupuncture, but others consider dry needling as a variation of trigger point injections. It involves the use of either solid filiform needles or hollow-core hypodermic needles for therapy of muscle pain, including pain related to myofascial pain syndrome. Dry needling is mainly used to treat myofascial trigger points, but it is also used to target connective tissue, neural ailments, and muscular ailments. The American Physical Therapy Association defines dry needling as a technique used to treat dysfunction of skeletal muscle and connective tissue, minimize pain, and improve or regulate structural or functional damage.
Frequency Specific Microcurrent (FSM) or frequency Specific Microcurrent Therapy (FSMT) is the practice of introducing a mild electrical current into an area of damaged soft tissue. Practitioners claim that the introduced current enhances the healing process underway in that same tissue. Critics, such as David Gorski, call proponent's claims of the technique altering body tissue's vibrational amplitude pseudoscience.
Extracorporeal shockwave therapy (ESWT) is a treatment using powerful acoustic pulses which is mostly used to treat kidney stones and in physical therapy and orthopedics.
Synkinesis is a neurological symptom in which a voluntary muscle movement causes the simultaneous involuntary contraction of other muscles. An example might be smiling inducing an involuntary contraction of the eye muscles, causing a person to squint when smiling. Facial and extraocular muscles are affected most often; in rare cases, a person's hands might perform mirror movements.
Critical illness polyneuropathy (CIP) and critical illness myopathy (CIM) are overlapping syndromes of diffuse, symmetric, flaccid muscle weakness occurring in critically ill patients and involving all extremities and the diaphragm with relative sparing of the cranial nerves. CIP and CIM have similar symptoms and presentations and are often distinguished largely on the basis of specialized electrophysiologic testing or muscle and nerve biopsy. The causes of CIP and CIM are unknown, though they are thought to be a possible neurological manifestation of systemic inflammatory response syndrome. Corticosteroids and neuromuscular blocking agents, which are widely used in intensive care, may contribute to the development of CIP and CIM, as may elevations in blood sugar, which frequently occur in critically ill patients.
Hereditary motor and sensory neuropathies (HMSN) is a name sometimes given to a group of different neuropathies which are all characterized by their impact upon both afferent and efferent neural communication. HMSN are characterised by atypical neural development and degradation of neural tissue. The two common forms of HMSN are either hypertrophic demyelinated nerves or complete atrophy of neural tissue. Hypertrophic condition causes neural stiffness and a demyelination of nerves in the peripheral nervous system, and atrophy causes the breakdown of axons and neural cell bodies. In these disorders, a patient experiences progressive muscle atrophy and sensory neuropathy of the extremities.
Low-level laser therapy (LLLT), cold laser therapy, photobiomodulation (PBM) or red light therapy is a form of medicine that applies low-level (low-power) lasers or light-emitting diodes (LEDs) to the surface of the body. Whereas high-power lasers are used in laser medicine to cut or destroy tissue, it is claimed that application of low-power lasers relieves pain or stimulates and enhances cell function. The effects appear to be limited to a specified set of wavelengths and new research has demonstrated effectiveness at myopia control. Several such devices are cleared by the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and research shows potential for treating a range of medical problems including rheumatoid arthritis and oral mucositis.
Electroanalgesia is a form of analgesia, or pain relief, that uses electricity to ease pain. Electrical devices can be internal or external, at the site of pain (local) or delocalized throughout the whole body. It works by interfering with the electric currents of pain signals, inhibiting them from reaching the brain and inducing a response; different from traditional analgesics, such as opiates which mimic natural endorphins and NSAIDs that help relieve inflammation and stop pain at the source. Electroanalgesia has a lower addictive potential and poses less health threats to the general public, but can cause serious health problems, even death, in people with other electrical devices such as pacemakers or internal hearing aids, or with heart problems.
Cosmetic electrotherapy is a range of beauty treatments that uses low electric currents passed through the skin to produce several therapeutic effects such as muscle toning in the body and micro-lifting of the face. It is based on electrotherapy, which has been researched and accepted in the field of rehabilitation, though the "scientific and medical communities have tended to sideline or dismiss the use of electrotherapy for healthy muscles".
Dentomandibular sensorimotor dysfunction (DMSD) is a medical condition involving the mandible, upper three cervical (neck) vertebrae, and the surrounding muscle and nerve areas.
Neuromodulation is "the alteration of nerve activity through targeted delivery of a stimulus, such as electrical stimulation or chemical agents, to specific neurological sites in the body". It is carried out to normalize – or modulate – nervous tissue function. Neuromodulation is an evolving therapy that can involve a range of electromagnetic stimuli such as a magnetic field (rTMS), an electric current, or a drug instilled directly in the subdural space. Emerging applications involve targeted introduction of genes or gene regulators and light (optogenetics), and by 2014, these had been at minimum demonstrated in mammalian models, or first-in-human data had been acquired. The most clinical experience has been with electrical stimulation.
Scrambler therapy involves the use of electronic stimulation on the skin with the goal of overwhelming pain information with non-pain information. In a therapy session, "electrocardiographic-like pads are placed around the area of pain".
References
- ↑ McMakin, CR (April 2004). "Microcurrent Therapy: A novel treatment method for chronic low back myofascial pain" (PDF). Journal of Bodywork and Movement Therapies. 8 (2): 143–153. doi:10.1016/j.jbmt.2003.12.006. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2014-05-17.
- ↑ Park, RJ; Son, H; Kim, K; et al. (2011). "The Effect of Microcurrent Electrical Stimulation on the Foot Blood Circulation and Pain of Diabetic Neuropathy". Journal of Physical Therapy Science. 23 (3): 515–518. doi: 10.1589/jpts.23.515 .
- ↑ Cho, MS; Park, RJ; Park, SH; et al. (2007). "The effect of microcurrent-inducing shoes on fatigue and pain in middle-aged people with plantar fasciitis". Journal of Physical Therapy Science. 19 (2): 165–170. doi: 10.1589/jpts.19.165 .
- ↑ Lambert, MI; Marcus, P; Burgess T (April 2002). "Electro-membrane microcurrent therapy reduces signs and symptoms of muscle damage". Med Sci Sports Exerc. 34 (4): 602–607. doi: 10.1097/00005768-200204000-00007 . PMID 11932567.
- ↑ "What is the Difference Between Transcutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulation (TENS) and Microcurrent Electrical Nerve Stimulation (MENS)".
- ↑ Robert O. Becker, M.D.; Gary Selden. The Body Electric: Electromagnetism And The Foundation of Life. pp. 17–21.
- ↑ Wolcott LE, Wheeler PC, Hardwicke HM, Rowley BA (1969). "Accelerated healing of skin ulcer by electrotherapy: preliminary clinical results". Southern Medical Journal. 62 (7): 795–801. doi:10.1097/00007611-196907000-00008. PMID 5306004.
- ↑ Cheng N, Van Hoof H, Bockx E, et al. (1982). "The effects of electric currents on ATP generation, protein synthesis, and membrane transport of rat skin". Clin. Orthop. Relat. Res. (171): 264–72. PMID 7140077.
- ↑ Reichmanis M, Marino AA, Becker RO (1975). "Electrical correlates of acupuncture points". IEEE Transactions on Biomedical Engineering. 22 (Nov, 22(6)): 533–5. doi:10.1109/tbme.1975.324477. PMID 1184029. S2CID 27966221.
- ↑ "Myotone | Microcurrent Facial Lifting, Toning, Wrinkle Reduction | Microcurrent, facial toning, wrinkle reduction and anti-aging device by Myotone. |". myotone.com. Retrieved 2018-12-12.
- ↑ "NuFACE: Microcurrent Facial Toning Devices". www.mynuface.com. Retrieved 2018-12-12.
- ↑ "Microcurrent and Anti-Shock System | FOREO". www.foreo.com. Retrieved 2023-11-09.
- ↑ Deborah Powell. MicroCurrent for Horses (and other vital therapies you should know). pp. 15–84.