Electrotherapy
Electrotherapy is a fantastic tool that we use at Sheffield Sports Medicine to provide pain relief and promote healing for bone, muscle and ligament injuries. It has a wide range of uses and can make significant improvements to both musculoskeletal and neurological problems.
The main methods of electrotherapy that we use at Sheffield Sports Medicine are: Transcutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulation (TENS), and Interferential Therapy.
Our experts use it for four main reasons:
Pain relief
Muscle stimulation
Increased local blood flow
Reduction of swelling
Electrotherapy can also help to:
Relax muscle spasms
Increase circulation
Rehabilitate muscles
Increase range of motion
Manage chronic pain
Although the idea of having electrical impulses sent through your body at high frequencies might sound a little painful, actually, many of our patients find the treatments relaxing. And most of all, they find the treatments really help their pain management.
Transcutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulation
Transcutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulation (TENS) sends tiny electrical currents to targeted body parts. It is a non-invasive treatment that can help relieve your pain and discomfort.
Your therapist will place electrode pads over specific nerves on your body enabling the current to conduct from the unit to the nerves. The electrical impulses are sent through the skin which can instantly reduce your pain by stimulating the nerves that are limited by the perception of pain. The electrical impulses can stimulate the release endorphins and other natural pain relievers which can break the cycle of your brain's natural pain signals.
You may feel both instant and prolonged pain relief. Once your pain is reduced, our therapists can then apply a manual therapy technique to help the you break the cycle of pain and immobility.
TENS therapy can be used for many conditions including:
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Back and neck pain
Muscle pain
Headaches
Period pain
Postoperative pain
Spinal cord injuries
Tendinitis
Bursitis
Arthritis
Joint pain
Sports injuries
Interferential Therapy
Interferential Therapy makes use of two medium frequency currents that pass through your tissues at the same time to stimulate your nerves. It can help to:
Relieve pain
Stimulate muscle tissues
Reduce oedema
Increase blood flow
Stimulate tissue repair
Interferential therapy is great for patients that cannot produce a voluntary muscle contraction due to a neurological injury or specific muscle weakness. It can also help significantly relieve muscle sprains, strains and spasms.
Interferential therapy works by stimulating your muscle's nerves over several different frequencies which can create a massage-type affect at alternating levels. Our experts place the electrodes the specific area to help it contract. As a result, Interferential therapy can also correct the biomechanics of a joint by activating all of the muscles and increasing strength production. The alternating currents that pass through your tissues can also stimulate your body to produce and secrete endorphins and enkephalins - both of which can help regulate your body's natural pain relief.
Interferential therapy is brilliant at helping people with osteoarthritis, lymphoma and acute soft tissue injuries as it can promote the reabsorption of swelling in the tissues. As the treatment causes your muscles to contract and relax very quickly, they act like a pump to stimulate the movement of swelling. By dispersing the swelling, this therapy reduces the localised pressure applied to the nerves so significantly reduces pain.
