Gymna-2019-2020 - Flipbook - Side 65
Electrotherapy
Electrotherapy
the state of the evidence
Old manuscripts have shown that the court physician to the Roman Emperor Claudius,
Scribonius Largus, used the electrical stimuli from electric rays to treat headaches
and gout. While the first therapeutic applications with electrical devices only started
appearing in the 18th century, it still took until the early 1900s before methods were
discovered to utilise these techniques in physical therapy (which was still in the early
stages).
At the beginning of the previous century,
the science was barely there and electrotherapy was only founded on empirical
evidence. Very little was known at that
time about its correct application. The
THE ROMANS WERE THE FIRST
TO UNDERSTAND THAT ELECTRIC
STIMULI COULD REDUCE PAIN.
lack of knowledge and rules meant
that the techniques were applied quite
nonchalantly for years, which resulted in
significantly varied therapeutic results.
However, after 1990, the demand for
reliable scientific research began to
increase. For the last fifteen years, this
has provided well-founded scientific
evidence for many of the physical effects
of electrical currents. It can now be said
with absolute scientific certainty that
electrotherapy techniques result in three
physical effects in general: symptomatic
pain reduction, cellular repair effects, and
diagnostic/therapeutic muscle stimulation.
Symptomatic pain reduction
The group of scientists associated with
Kathleen Sluka have been publishing
respectable scientific results since 2002
concerning the pain-reduction effects
of TENS (Transcutaneous electrical nerve
stimulation). In Using TENS for pain control:
the state of the evidence (2014), they
comprehensively introduce the neurophysiological mechanisms involved in
pain reduction. Moreover, the therapist
is asked to pay specific attention to a
subtle, well-considered interaction with
the parameter settings. Otherwise, the
treatment becomes ineffective and it
goes without saying that this is highly
unethical with regard to the patient.
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