| One of the problems most chronic pain patients have | | | | effect of a good interferential unit. |
| is getting good, long lasting sleep so the patient can | | | | - One might try a warm, moist heat pack over painful |
| rest. Often the lack of sleep only exacerbates the | | | | area with the Interferential electrodes underneath |
| pain problems and the two, lack of sleep and pain, | | | | the pack in the painful area. The combination of |
| feed off each other. | | | | carryover thermal pain relief is extended by the |
| Here is a method to suppress the pain and restore | | | | interferential treatment and the increased blood flow |
| the sleep. Our goal is to increase the sleep period | | | | into the area allows for better conduction of the |
| from the time the patient lies down and extend the | | | | electricity throughout the painful region. |
| sleeping, over greater time period, until reaching a | | | | - One can place a Lavender Aromatherapy Patch on |
| beneficial sleep that allows the patient to rest and | | | | the chest to wear during night to help relax. If the |
| recuperate. | | | | patient's insurance purchased unit then these patches |
| Tips: | | | | may be a covered cost so no out of pocket cost to |
| Each night prior to going to bed the patient should | | | | the patient. |
| take a few minutes to rest and put feet up. It's | | | | - Try sipping a cup of chamomile tea ( one of main |
| better to do in the bed so to not have to get up to | | | | ingredients in "Sleepytime" tea) to calm down and get |
| go to bed. Put the Infrex on, high interferential mode, | | | | a restful night's sleep. |
| and set for a 30 minute cycle of treatment. This | | | | One study done, found on WEBMD, shows the use |
| should diminish the pain and also relax any tense | | | | of dorsal column stimulators- DCS- (implanted spinal |
| muscles. Do the treatment for a week to see if the | | | | devices) that help restore sleep. Best for patients is |
| sleep pattern is not restored or periods of sleep | | | | to go with interferential first since this is a non |
| extended. The actual interferential stimulation also | | | | surgical, safe effective treatment modality without |
| relaxes the muscles which is another of the harmful | | | | any of the potential harmful side effects of surgery. |
| effects of living in pain. | | | | The actual origin of tens units ( transcutaneous |
| Couple of extra tips to go with this: | | | | electrical nerve stimulators ) were from testing for a |
| - If 30 minutes isn't enough then the patient can | | | | DCS device and it was found the external device |
| literally do "continuous" interferential stimulation and | | | | provided similar benefits without surgery, costs, and |
| go to sleep with the unit on. That is not a problem | | | | build up of scar tissue which created it's own set of |
| and will not cause any problems due to the net 0 DC | | | | future problems. |