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universitair
ziekenhuis
antwerpen
wiirjikstraat
10
b-2650 edegem
telefax (03) 829.05.20
Daniel L. Kirsch, PhD,
DAAPM, FAIS
Chairman of the Board
Electromedical Products International, Inc.
2201 Garrett Morris Parkway
Mineral Wells, TX 76067-9484 USA
Antwerp, 27 October 2000
Dear Dr. Kirsch,
I started to use
portable TENS units in physical therapy about 12 years ago. I had the feeling
that this was the best possible solution to do something about pain. But
still too many patients kept complaining about pain and the additional use of
drugs was often the only way out. On the other hand I realized that this way
of treating pain is still only a symptomatic treatment. In April 1998 I
started using the Alpha-Stim 100. From the very beginning I noticed that this
microcurrent device offers much more and better possibilities than any TENS
device.
I use the Alpha-Stim in
a variety of pathologies, as they are common in physical therapy, i.e.
tendonitis, periostitis, traumatic ankle distortions, facet joint and
intervertebral disc pain, etc. I had the opportunity to compare the
Alpha-Stim to two other microcurrent devices and it is remarkable that there
is still quite a difference. The Alpha-Stim shows its effects in less
treatments and has a greater effect of decreasing the pain, i.e., the
treatment of tendonitis of the supraspinatus muscle is sometimes only a
matter of two treatments in three or four days. Of course this is in
combination with manual therapy techniques but one of the remarkable effects
is that further no drugs, such as NSAID’s, are being used. This leads to the
conclusion that the Alpha-Stim microcurrent probably has its effects much
closer to the cause of the injury or disease. Which is a welcome alternative
to the variety of symptomatic treatments in physical therapy. I think that
according to the need for evidence based physical therapy the Alpha-Stim
technology is what PT’s are waiting for.
The Alpha-Stim offers
even more. The CES option is in physical therapy a welcome solution for the
treatment of pathologies that include an overactivated sympathetic nervous
system, such as in RSD and whiplash. CES was completely new to me and in this
matter I want to thank you for lecturing here at the university in May last
year. Your explanations on CES have been of great value to me and together
with your book it helped me write the CES chapter in my book on
electrotherapy.
Patrick De Bock,
P.T.
Physical Therapist / Manual Therapist
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