This document discusses various electrotherapy modalities used in physical therapy including galvanic current, Faradic current, shortwave diathermy, interferential therapy, and TENS. Galvanic current uses direct current to promote ion transfer and blood flow, while Faradic current uses pulses to cause muscle contraction. Shortwave diathermy uses electromagnetic waves to produce deep heating for pain relief and increased range of motion. Interferential therapy and TENS use electrical currents to reduce pain, inflammation, and accelerate healing for conditions like chronic pain, post-surgical recovery, and muscle injuries. These electrotherapy modalities are commonly used in physical therapy to aid muscle healing, increase blood flow, reduce pain, and improve range of

1. ELECTROTHERAPY

2. WHAT IS ELECTROTHERAPY?
• Electrotherapy (also known as electrical muscle
stimulation or e-stim) use of electric currents
that delivers electrical impulses to a patient’s
body to promote and facilitate muscle healing
and tissue regeneration

3. WHY ELECTROTHERAPY?
Electrotherapy in physical therapy is for:
Relaxation of muscle spasms,
Prevention and retardation of disuse atrophy,
 Increase of local blood circulation,
Muscle rehabilitation,
Electrical muscle stimulation,
Maintaining and increasing range of motion,
Management of chronic and intractable pain,
Immediate post-surgical stimulation of muscles to prevent venous
thrombosis,
Facilitation of wound healing.

4. GALVANIC CURRENT:
• When a steady flow of direct current is passed through tissue,
its effect is primarily chemical. It causes the movement of ions
and their collection at the skin areas lying immediately
beneath the electrodes. The Galvanic current creates an
electric field over the treated area that theoretically, changes
blood flow.
• Direct Galvanic current is mainly used for iontophoresis/
Ionization
• The intensity of current passed through any part of the body
does not exceed 0.3 to 0.5 mA/cm2 of electrode surface.
• The duration of treatment is 10-20 minutes

5. FARADIC CURRENT:
• Faradic current is a sequence of pulses with defined shape and
current intensity. The pulse duration is of 0.1-1 m/s and frequency
of 50-100 Hz.
• Faradic current acts upon muscle tissue and upon the motor nerves
to produce muscle contraction.
• There is no ion transfer and consequently, no chemical effect.
• This may be used for the treatment of muscle weakness after
lengthy immobilization and of disuse atrophy .
• Faradic and galvanic current is a part of electrotherapy, which uses
low voltage, low-frequency impulse current for therapeutic uses.

6. SHORTWAVE DIATHERMY:
• Short Wave Diathermy (SWD) is a treatment that uses electromagnetic
energy to produce deep heating in joints and soft tissues.
• Thus SWD can effectively relieve:
 joint pain,
improve soft tissue healing and
 decrease the symptoms of osteoarthritis.
• Best Health Physiotherapists are knowledgeable and experienced in
the appropriate application of SWD.

7. THERAPEUTIC USES OF SHORTWAVE DIATHERMY:
• Relief of Pain: It is found that a mild degree of
heating is effective in relieving pain. Strong
superficial heating probably relieves pain by
counter irritation.
• Short-wave diathermy assists in bringing about
the resolution of inflammation and so indirectly
relieving the pain.
• Active exercises can thus be performed more
efficiently after application of diathermy
currents.
• Duration: 20 minutes

8. SHORTWAVE DIATHERMY
Indications
• Disorders of the musculoskeletal
system (sprains strains)
• Muscle and tendon tears
• Capsule lesions
• Degenerative joint disease
• Chronic inflammatory or infective
conditions like, tenosynovitis or
bursitis
• Sinusitis
Contraindications
• Moderate oedema
• Metallic implants
• Pacemakers
• Impaired thermal sensation
• Unreliable patients like small children and
intellectually impaired adults
• Recent radiotherapy
• Acute infection or inflammation
• Pregnancy / menstruation
• Severe cardiac conditions
• Severe blood pressure abnormalities.

9. INTERFERENTIAL THERAPY UNIT(IFT)
• Interferential current therapy is an effective therapy option used
by many physiotherapy clinics to relieve pain and accelerate the
self-healing process, getting your body back to a healthy, pain free
state.
• The high frequency signals of an IFC penetrate through the skin
into deeper lying muscle tissues.
• Interferential Current (also referred to as IFC) is the waveform to
use when treating chronic, post-surgical and post-trauma acute
pain.

10. THERAPEUTIC USES OF INTERFERENTIAL THERAPY
UNIT (IFT):
• This form of therapy is also extremely useful in:
• Reducing pain, inflammation, curing edema, and spasms.
• Reduces or eliminates your pain safely.
• Noticeable decrease in swelling and inflammation.
• Restores lost movement and improves restricted
movements and coordination.
• Stimulates the natural hormones which can help your
body heal faster.
• Considered by many experts as a highly effective form of
treatment for chronic pain.

11. INTERFERENTIAL THERAPY UNIT(IFT):
INDICATIONS
• Interferential therapy is not effective
in post-traumatic pain in the acute
stages, but is effective in cases of
chronic pain with or without swelling,
particularly after prolonged
immobilization.
CONTRAINDICATIONS
Artificial pacemakers
• Infective conditions, e.g.
tuberculosis
• Malignant tumours
• Unreliable patients (mentally
retarded).

12. TRANSCUTANEOUS ELECTRICAL NERVE STIMULATION
(TENS)
• Transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS) is the
transmission of electrical energy through the skin to the
nervous system.
• These are usually battery operated with a current output
(intensity) of 0-60 mA, and are thus portable, enabling the
physical therapist to provide pain relief even at home for
patients who cannot come to the physiotherapy center.

13. PARAMETERS OF TENS:
• Frequency—varies from 5 Hz to 500 Hz
• Intensity—can be altered until a tingling sensation is felt.
It should not be painful or cause muscle contraction
• Application of electrodes—the electrodes (2 or 4) are
applied with conducting gel on the patient skin, above and
below or even over the painful spot, or sometimes over
acupuncture points, trigger points, affected nerves or
dermatomes.

14. Indications:
• Chronic pain syndromes like back pain
and cervicobrachial neuralgia.
• Phantom limb pain
• Trigeminal and Postherpetic neuralgia
Contraindications:
• Cardiac pacemakers
• Cardiac arrhythmias
• Poor sensation.

15. REFERENCES:
• https://www.physio-pedia.com
• https://www.pthealth.ca
• https://www.physiounit.com
• https://en.Wikipedia.org
• S.Sundar MBBS dip Phys Med, Textbook of Rehabilitation
Science, third edition,2010

16. Thankyou!!!
Presented by,
S.Shobitha Sankar