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Electro Acupuncture Provides Added Stimulation Through Electrical Currents
Electro acupuncture is applying pulsating electrical current to an acupuncture needle in order to stimulate the
acupuncture points and was first developed in China around 1934. The process requires that the acupuncture needle
be inserted in order to attain the qi (energy) reaction by hand manipulation and use an electrode that is attached
to the needle to provide sustained stimulation. There are a number of benefits to using electro acupuncture and
these include acting as a substitute for hand manipulation, producing stronger stimulation, and controlling the
frequency and amount of the stimulus.
By acting as a substitute for prolonged hand maneuvering, it helps assure the patient that he or she is receiving
correct amount of stimulation. Electro acupuncture can also lessen the total treatment time required through supply
of continuous stimulus. It produces stronger stimulation if required and does not result in tissue damage that can
happen through twirling and lifting and thrusting a needle. Electro acupuncture also allows greater control of the
frequency of the stimulus. However, a major disadvantage of electro acupuncture is that there is lack of direct
participation of a practitioner and this may limit the practitioner’s opportunity to respond to changes that occur
during treatment.
Good for Treating Neurological Diseases
Electro acupuncture is especially good for treating neurological diseases that include chronic pain, spasms, as
well as paralysis. However, electro acupuncture should be used with caution in patients having cardiac diseases
since the heart may respond negatively to electrical impulses. The electro acupuncture treatment should last from
ten to twenty minutes and should very rarely go on for longer than half an hour. Sometimes, however, the electrical
stimulus may be used for an hour or longer but only in a few cases, especially when treating difficult neurological
disorders.
In addition, electro acupuncture is generally administered using an alternating current and so, the two electrodes
in any pair are equivalent and some devices permit direct current setting but this is not recommended. Also, any
device that is used for electro acupuncture should have good control over its voltage output so that there should
not be any excess electrical stimulation which might cause pain or result in the muscles contracting.
Also, when treating chronic pain, electro acupuncture should be given to a point close to the source of pain and
giving a patient some tri-cyclic anti-depressant chlorimiprmine may result in increasing effectiveness of the
treatment.
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