The short answer to the question is yes it can. Although there is a lot of research literature on the topic, it is reasonable to suggest that the application of electrical stimulation to help resolve chronic wounds is not that well understood or widely practised yet.

There are a variety of different approaches and there is perhaps no optimal approach that has yet been identified. As a consequence, the evidence supporting electrical stimulation for wound healing is always muted due to the variety of protocols that have been used.

Perhaps the approach with the longest use is High Voltage Pulsed Current (HVPC) which dates back to the 1940s. In this article, we will take a look at the nature of wounds, the rationale behind electrical stimulation for wound healing and look at some of the approaches that have been taken.

We are finding there is a growing interest in using electrotherapy to treat denervated muscle. There are many clinical benefits of doing this and given equipment like the Stimulator RISE, it is very easy to do. Clients can do this safely at home given guidance and support.
Denervated muscle refers to a muscle that has lost its nerve supply or connection to the nervous system. Nerves play a crucial role in controlling muscle movement and function by sending electrical impulses to the muscle fibers. When a muscle becomes denervated, it loses this connection, which can lead to muscle weakness, atrophy (shrinkage), and even loss of muscle function over time. The article features a video from Anatomical Concepts DIrector, Derek Jones, who describes the rationale and process of using the RISE Stimulator in some detail. You can review the video and the transcript is shown

We should shortly see the emergence of new spinal cord stimulation products that can assist rehabilitation, as the first examples are approaching commercialisation. Although not a cure for spinal cord injury, these devices have been shown to assist in the recovery of function in situations where this seemed lost for ever.

Spinal cord stimulation (SCS) has a rich history that dates back to the 1960s, when it was first introduced as a potential treatment for chronic pain management. Pioneered by Dr. Norman Shealy (1967) this innovative method was initially developed to alleviate intractable pain by delivering mild electrical pulse trains to the spinal cord via implantation of electrodes.

Over the years, the field of SCS has witnessed significant advancements in both technology and research, broadening its potential applications to include functional recovery following spinal cord injury (SCI).

This article looks briefly at the state of the art.

How to we test for denervated muscle? As we will see in this article, a number of conditions can lead to denervation. Sometimes the extent of this denervation is hard to establish with equipment commonly available to the therapist. Perhaps the therapist tried “conventional” neuromuscular electrical stimulation (NMES) and could not produce a muscle contraction even with quite high intensity settings. Hence denervation was suspected, but without really being able to determine it’s extent.
The RISE stimulator provides a handy protocol that allows the presence and extent of denervation to be established and monitored over time. This article describes the process. First lets review some information on what exactly causes denervation, it’s consequences and the benefits of electrotherapy. We can then describe how the RISE unit can give is a denervation “benchmark”.

Skeletal muscle denervation is caused by damage or injury to the nerves that supply a muscle. This can occur as a result of a number of different conditions, including trauma to the spine or a peripheral nerve. Denervation can also result from infection, inflammation, and certain medical procedures. In some cases, denervated skeletal muscle may be caused by diseases that affect the nerves, such as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) or Guillain-Barré syndrome. Denervation can also occur as a complication of surgery, such as when a nerve is accidentally damaged during an operation.

Muscles can recover from denervation, despite the loss of nerve supply to a muscle. Sometimes this recovery happens with little intervention necessary. At Anatomical Concepts we are typically working with individuals where some intervention is indicated.

FES Cycling with the RehaMove system is a foundation in Claire’s routine. In this short video she describes how she discovered FES Cycling, why she felt it was important to continue to exercise the parts that were paralysed as well as the parts that weren’t, and the benefits she has seen from doing so.