Medical Facts About Electrical Muscle Stimulation

I have had the opportunity over the last few years to experience some of the best of Eastern and Western medical and holistic treatments of the electrical muscle stimulation category. My friend bought an electrical muscle stimulation machine, or device, that comes with little electrodes you attach the sore areas on your back or legs or shoulders, for example, and then by dialing in the voltage you want delivered, you can lie back and relax as you receive intermittent electrical impulses—shocks—that are invigorating, stunning, and cathartic, at the least.

Electrical muscle stimulation, also referred to as EMS in the medical field, is chiefly used by medical professionals and others to reduce or hopefully prevent muscle atrophy, which can onset after surgery or an accident or injury if the patient is at rest for extended periods of time. The low voltage of electrical muscle stimulation engages the brain, which sends electrical stimulation or information to the nerve axons in involuntary muscles. This process also is said to stimulate growth as well.

The electrical muscle stimulation device is prescribed by a physician, but is also available OTC (over the counter), if you will. If prescribed (for injury, etc.), it is typically covered by most medical insurance policies. But if you wish to purchase an electrical muscle stimulation unit online or in a specialty store, you can find one for under twenty dollars, that comes bundled as the unit, batteries, two or more small (one-inch or so) electrodes, one or two butterfly electrodes, and even, in some cases, a carrying pouch or container.

After my friend treated me, so to speak, after I had complained of neck problems stemming from a hit and run accident where I was the victim, I was so relieved that I went online and found my own sources for the electrical muscle stimulation device. The range of offerings included everything from those you can put in your pocket (costing about 20 bucks) to those plug-in wall-sized units (costing a few hundred). That was a few years ago. Today, the electrical muscle stimulation units are being built into or crafted into belts and other accessories and clothing items, ad are used not just for pain and muscle rehabilitation. Instead, people are using them to lose weight by toning their muscles. As I mentioned earlier, the electrical muscle stimulation process contributes to muscle “growth”, or what is technically known as hypertrophy…. But according to researchers who did unbiased and thorough experiments and studies, this is hogwash, whitewash, snow-job material for the gullible. Yes, it would be cool to just lay around for a few minutes every day with electrodes strapped and zapping, and wake up with a six-pack that looks like the one on Pink. But then again, it would be nice if all those hundreds of pills were magic beans we could grow beanstalks leading to the golden egg, too.