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February 9, 2012

Pain Management and Bioelectric Therapy

Introduction to Bioelectric Therapy

Bioelectric therapy is a safe, drug-free treatment option for people in pain. It is used to treat some chronic pain and acute pain conditions. It relieves pain by blocking pain messages to the brain. When you are injured, pain receptors send a message to the central nervous system (the brain and spinal cord). The message is registered as pain by certain cells in the body. Using bioelectric currents, bioelectric therapy relieves pain by interrupting pain signals before they reach the brain. Bioelectric therapy also prompts the body to produce endorphins which help to relieve pain.

What Conditions Are Treated With Bioelectric Therapy?

Bioelectric therapy can be used to treat chronic and acute pain conditions including:

Bioelectric therapy isn't right for everyone. It is not recommended for people who:




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      • Migraine is usually periodic attacks of headaches on one or both sides of the head. These may be accompanied by nausea, vomiting, increased sensitivity of the eyes to light (photophobia), increased sensitivity to sound (phonophobia), dizziness, blurred vision, cognitive disturbances, and other symptoms. Treatments for migraine headache include therapies that may or may not involve medications.
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      • Reflex sympathetic dystrophy syndrome (RSD) is a condition that features atypical symptoms including pain (often "burning" type), tenderness, and swelling of an extremity associated with varying degrees of sweating, warmth and/or coolness, flushing, discoloration, and shiny skin. RSD is also referred to as "the shoulder-hand syndrome." Treatment response is greater in earlier stages than later stages.
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Bioelectric Therapy

What is scleroderma?

Scleroderma is an autoimmune disease of the connective tissue featuring skin thickening, spontaneous scarring, blood vessel disease, varying degrees of inflammation, associated with an overactive immune system. Autoimmune diseases are illnesses which occur when the body's tissues are attacked by its own immune system. Scleroderma is characterized by the formation of scar tissue (fibrosis) in the skin and organs of the body. This leads to thickness and firmness of involved areas. Scleroderma, when it's diffuse or widespread over the body, is also referred to as systemic sclerosis.

The cause of scleroderma is not known. Researchers have found some evidence that certain genes are important factors, but the environment seems to also play a role. The result is activation of the immune system in a susceptible individual, causing injury to tissues that result in injury similar to scar-tissue formation. The fact that genes seem to cause a predi...

Read the Scleroderma article »







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