Traditional Interferential Current (IFC) or Premodulated (PREMOD) IFC for Pain Relief

IFC has been shown to be effective for treating multiple types of pain in locations throughout the body.^1,2 Both traditional IFC and PREMOD IFC can be done at sensory and motor levels. Sensory settings provide segmental pain relief that is fast-acting and lasts for several hours. Motor stimulation tends to be slower-acting, but may relieve pain for up to 8 hours via segmental and systemic pain modulation. Available options in the OmniStim^® Pro and OmniVersa^® electrical stimulation devices include:

• Sensory – Indicated for acute pain or when the patient is taking opioid medications

• Motor – Indicated for chronic pain

• Sequential (Mixed) Pain Modulation – A combination of sensory and motor frequencies
  • Sensory Motor – Acute and Subacute pain, when motor is not well tolerated; sensory 10 min → motor 20 min
  • Motor Sensory – When weaning off pain medication, releases endorphins; 5 min twitch motor → 15 min motor → 10 min sensory
  • Sequential – Continually cycles through motor and sensory frequencies, every 15 seconds, reducing accommodation

Traditional IFC

• Two channels are crossed and interference within the tissues creates a vector

• The vector can be adjusted for degree of sweep (45° or 90°) and speed (fast = 10 seconds or slow = 60 seconds)

PREMOD IFC

• Two medium frequencies are crossed within the machine
• A single channel with two electrodes (Image A)
• Two channels, not crossed, with four electrodes; no vector is created (Image B)

References:
1. Rajfur J, Pasternok M, Rajfur K, Fras B, Bolach B, Dymarek R, Rosinczuk J, Halski T, Taradaj J: Efficiency of Selected electrical Therapies on Chronic Low Back Pain:
A Comparative Clinical Pilot Study. Med Sci Monit, 2017:23:85-100.
2. Zeng C, LI H, Yang T, Deng ZH, ZHang Y, Lei GH: Electrical Stimulation for Pain Relief in Knee Osteoarthritis: Systematic Review and Network Meta-analysis. Osteoarthritis and Cartilage, 2015;23:189-202.