Interferential Current Therapy is an effective therapy modality used by Desert Physical Medicine doctors to relieve or stop pain while accelerating the body’s healing process, getting the body back to a healthy pain-free state.
How It Works:
IFC uses high frequency and low-frequency electric currents that are mixed, causing and interrupted frequency that once applied to the area of the body, shuts off pain receptors found deep within the skin, muscle and bone tissue, resulting in pain relief. Most patients report an electrical anesthesia effect within 10 to 15 minutes after its application on the affected body part. Relief lasts several hours and even days. Besides pain relief, IFC current stimulates the release of endorphins and enkephalins into the bloodstream, which further causes a relaxed euphoric state. IFC has also been used in the reduction of soft tissue or joint swelling (edema), which is associated with the lymphatic pumping action of this type of electrical modality, reducing swelling over the areas it’s applied. The good news about IFC is that there are no side effects experienced by the patient, and this sure is a better option than taking non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs that are known to cause irritation of the stomach and intestinal lining.
What Conditions Are Treated With IFC?
At Desert Physical Medicine, our doctors combine IFC in the management of acute and chronic soft tissue injuries such as 1) Traumatic muscle and ligament strains, muscle spasm; 2) Neuropathy from spinal cord injuries, diabetes, and joint pain; 3) Acute and chronic soft tissue injuries resulting in swelling of both muscle, ligaments and joints.
How Long Will It Take?
Once our health team confirms the cause of your pain, IFC can be recommended as a combination of manual therapies that can be applied 20 to 30 minutes daily or divided into two to three treatments per week for four to six weeks. Should daily use be required, our doctors may prescribe a portable IFC unit which one can take home.