Acupuncture with Electrical Stimulation (Estim)or Electrotherapy
We often add electrical stimulation (electro-acupuncture) during your traditional acupuncture treatments by attaching a small electrode to the acupuncture needles or by using a pad on the acupuncture points of the body. This electrode provides a gentle vibration that stimulates the qi running through these acupuncture points. It is often very soothing to the patient, providing a soft humming and, essentially, a more fluid treatment.
Acupuncture with Estim helps boost the therapeutic effects of those acupuncture points and ensures that the patient receives the proper amount of stimulation needed. It also helps shorten the total treatment time due to the continued, and often stronger, stimulus.
How does Acupuncture with Electrical Stimulation work?
Acupuncture operates on the idea that a person's qi, or life force, runs through body along certain meridians, and that specific points on the body correspond with these meridians. When these points are ‘activated' or stimulated by touch, specific complaints of chronic pain or illnesses can be alleviated.
While acupuncture with Estim may be used as a component of almost all acupuncture treatments, it is particularly very useful regarding the treatment of stubborn neurological disorders, chronic pain, spasms, paralysis, or in cases where the qi is difficult to stimulate. Other conditions such as acne, renal colic, and acute nausea caused by cancer medications are also responding well to Estim.
Acupuncture with electrical stimulation has been proven to promote the flow of qi and blood, relieve pain, warm the muscles, and remove blood stagnant (a blockage, or poor circulation). Thus, like the TENS (transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation) unit, acupuncture with Estim is very beneficial for muscular tension and sport injuries. Most patients describe the feeling as a twitching of the muscle where the electrical stimulation is placed, follow by a sense of relaxation.
