Interferential Current for pregnant

[alophysio]

Ok, we can spend time and money on research into this...but really. Aren;t there so many more things that we can do to help pregnant women??

Is interferential really that good that nothing works equally well or better?

Again, if interferential is the very best thing available, then we should devote time and money into researching it. But with the limited time and money we have, i am happy to just say don't use it around the trunk and pelvis and be done with it.

Don't you think?

[asha]

I totally agree with alophysio. Its much better to get a peaceful sleep at night rather than experiment on a foetus. There are so many ways of reducing that pain. Just look for the cause of this pain & undo it. Most often what is needed in the last trimester is just posture care. Interferential is definitely not the best thing that happened to the physio profession for us to risk & harm a foetus, or spend time & money to research it.

[sjsrikanth]

Im quite surprised why would we want to stay away from research in these areas just because we asume the application of IFT to treatment of back pain in pregnancy alone??

These researches may prove fruitful in furure use of IFT during labor for pain reduction, and In case god knows even assisted contractions of the uterus!

I think it is our responsibility as physios to widen the horizon of our treatment modalities and think new, research more, rather than hiding safe behind assumptions.

We never know what potentials IFT has got untill we do animal research in these areas.

Let us not dismiss research in these areas becos we think of limited applications.

[alophysio]

Hi,

I understand your point. However, to do research on this, you will eventually have to tell a pregnant women that you want to pass an electric field thru her body to assess whether it is dangerous or not.

I don't know any women at all willing to risk their babies for that kind of research.

Your point is well taken but even one mistake is a cost too high. Not for interferential. A cure for terminal cancer in the patient may be worth that risk but not for interferential.

That is only my opinion. I just think that people can better spend their time and money on more useful things. That is all.

As physiotherapists, we need to protect our domains. Honestly, you don't need to be a physiotherapist to use a machine. There are millions of people who operate machines every day. All you need is to teach them when to put it on and how to set the settings.

Our skills are in our minds and our thinking. We then implement the BEST course of action to help our patients. We are trying to solve the CAUSE of people's problems, not just the source and symptoms.

Mark my words, if we aren't careful and don't produce research to support all aspects of our work, we will be marginalised. We are small fry in a big ocean - there are plenty of people more than happy to take away our autonomy.

If you feel that strongly about researching I/F for pregnant women, why don't you start with animal experiments and if that is proven to be safe, then test it on your pregnant wife with your firstborn - if you aren't willing to do that then no-one else should be subjected to the experiments.

Besides, you won't get it past the ethics committees. Not at this stage.

[emad]

It is better to avoid taking risk of applying Electrotherapy for a pegnant woman ,while there is strong evidence supports many techniques to deal with this problem .

The question is : why does this woman complains pain at her shoulder ??

cheers
Emad