Electric Muscle Stimulation

The Same Care That Professional Athletes Get

When professional athletes injure a muscle, electric muscle stimulation is one of the first treatment paths. What is also important to know is that electrically stimulated muscles are, for the most part, superficial, and that is useful for propulsive muscle groups. Most EMS experiences are one muscle at a time, but some injured muscles groups can be treated together.

This treatment method causes the targeted muscles to contract — which can result in several electrical muscle stimulation benefits such as:

• • Reducing the occurrence of muscle spasms,
  • Working the muscle to help retain some muscle density and strength and reduce muscle atrophy, and
  • Increasing muscle control and decreasing spasticity and flaccidity.

What’s Different About Medical Grade Electric Muscle Stimulation?

Electronically stimulating muscles seems like an easy proposition – and in fact, it has received so much attention over the past few years that the process has become simplified. So simple, in fact, that you see “stim machines” or “TENS units” in your local pharmacy, Wal-Mart, and maybe even with a vendor at the state fair. While the theory behind muscle stimulation is the similar, rest assured that we are not talking about the same process. Muscle stimulators that are used by medical professionals cost thousands of dollars and require technical expertise for administration. The key is to use a variable length wave to select muscle groups for healing, atrophy and strength.

Neuromuscular electrical stimulation is typically administered three to five days per week for 1 hour and is noninvasive and painless. It has been found to speed up the recovery process and provide long-term results.

What is the difference between an Electric Stim Machine and a TENS unit?

Electric muscle stimulation delivers electrical pulses which can reduce pain and increase blood flow. EMS (electrical muscle stimulation), means the therapy is designed to stimulate motor neurons—the nerves that control the muscles. Whereas TENS (transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation) units are designed to stimulate sensory neurons, aka the nerves that transmit the pain. EMS is intended for someone who may have had muscle damage and is having trouble contracting the muscle.

According to Dr. Pritchett, if you injured your knee in an auto accident, EMS could help prevent atrophy in your quad muscle. TENS, on the other hand, is used only to reduce pain.