Electrotherapy - services

At Elizabeth Edwards Physiotherapy we only use modalities that are evidence based.

• Ultrasound
• Transcutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulation (TENS)
• Neuromuscular Electrical Stimulation (NMES)

Ultrasound is a non-painful electrotherapy technique. It transmits a wave slightly higher than a sound wave into the injured site which stimulates a vibratory effect in the tissues and in turn increases circulation and cellular activity, proven to increase the healing process and therefore speed up recovery times.

Transcutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulation (TENS) is used for pain relief. You will feel a tingling sensation that will vary in severity depending on the setting needed to alleviate your pain. This works by interfering with the pain electrical signals being sent from your central nervous system (brain) down to your painful area to tell you that you have pain. TENS is a small machine that can be kept in a pocket that will have electrodes attached around the painful area of your body. TENS is best kept on for a number of hours, therefore they are available for higher from Elizabeth Edwards Physiotherapy, or alternatively Elizabeth will advise where to purchase one from if this form of electrotherapy is suitable for you.

Neuromuscular Electrical Stimulation (NMES) is used for the rehabilitation of muscles. An electrical signal is sent in to the muscle to tell it to contract, mimicking what your nervous system would do. NMES will involve putting electrodes over the muscle we are targeting and then an electrical signal is sent to contract the muscle to different severities. NMES can take a bit of getting used to for some people and we are conscious of this, so will turn the intensity of the contraction up slowly. Your muscles are doing a work out whilst this machine is on them so you can feel achy after it is removed, as expected after a work out!