IF and IFC stands for Interferential -

…..

I hadn’t even considered using IFC in a bucket of water.  Thanks for the suggestion.  I’ll have to try it.  Would it also follow that an ice pack over the region (like on my low back) would enhance the therapeutic effect if used during the IF session?   That would be very easy to implement on any location, though not quite as cold as a bucket of ice water.   I don’t do well with heat, even though I like the way it feels.  It worsens my fatigue, so I’ll skip that one, even though it sounds really nice.

Speaking  of using the unit with the battery pack, I have noticed that it has a significant power drop when on battery supply.  (I know you mentioned to me earlier that this was the case).  At what level could I expect it to perform at full power (and not simply assume that my batteries were going bad)?  For example on a 4 pole IFC setup with four 3” electrodes in the low back region, I’ve raised the intensity to 99 for 30 minutes at a time.   A few times, I wanted to move locations and plug in elsewhere.  When I went on battery power, I noticed a significant drop in the stimulation.   Or sometimes I just wanted to finish a couple of chores before sitting down to finish my IF treatment.  What is a reasonable expectation on battery?

What about other pain reliever creams, such as Aspercreme, that contain salicilates, but not menthol.   Can I somehow pair those with the IF to get improved relief?  (I have found that my skin burns like fire with menthol….more than it should.)

Thank you for the time you take to thoroughly educate and assist your clients.  I am amazed and impressed.  In fact, that is something that I have already shared with a number of my friends (who are PT’s and OT’s).  More than anything, I am grateful!

Have a wonderful evening,
SS

Answer:

On warm versus cold you do whatever provides you relief.  Try the ice pack(chilling) in conjunction with IF and just see what happens.  We have one patient who is in his 40’s with some form of degenerative disease but he has to work each day.  He gets relief from cold so at work he takes his shoes and socks off, and sits at his desk with his feet on cold tile.   He does his IF couple times a day with feet being cooled down.  He also does not benefit from heat, but does so from cold and that is how he self treats.

On batteries, especially rechargeable versus disposable, a disposable is about 30% stronger than a rechargeable so that is one difference.  You will have more available power with disposable.  In actuality the Infrex Plus was not designed to use IF mode on batteries.  The batteries were more for tens and in situations where just could not use AC adaptor, then as an emergency Rx.  We were thinking of airplanes, cars, public waiting areas, etc.   If the unit ever takes off then we do have a plan to adapt the adaptor for plug in in car lighter ( that assume lighters still  in cars by time we get there!!!).

ON “menthol”, most topical pain products have menthol in them to some degree.  Menthol being some form of mint oil, ie peppermint, spearmint, mentha ,,,,,, .  Example if you remember Flex All.  It is basically the same product but with different amounts of mint oil.  Regular is 8%, chiropractic is 12%, and professional is 16%.  You can use ultrasound with flexall if you put the flexall in the coupling gel and you use the regular at 8% or chiro, but at Professional of 16% the oil content is so high that almost always there will be a skin irritation problem.   If you have problems with mint topically then make sure menthol is not the first ingredient mentioned on the “ingredients”, the farther down the ingredients menthol is then the better for you.

On Aspercreme with IF I don’t know.  Just try it and see how works and let us know. Electricity being used for topical meds works if the med is water based, not petroleum based.  Electricity does not drive medicinal ions in oils but will do so in water based, ie. Iontophoresis.  You might get greater absorption and depth of penetration possibly but not sure.   Also if you do try this then for sure if do with ice/chill then the vasoconstriction that will occur in the chilled area will help retain the meds longer which should increase absorption in the localized area.

Anyone can do this at home in just a couple minutes.

Roll on the ball a bit to find that exact sweet spot.

Use a tennis ball to help relax

Get More FREE Natural Pain Releif Videos
Name:
Email:

We Respect Your Privacy
Lose the Back Pain System

This technique targets two areas of the body where people tend to have a lot of tension and stiffness. The first spot is right at the piriformis, often associated with sciatica and low back pain issues. The second spot, by the shoulder blades is associated the upper back and neck stiffness.

Have You Tried This?

Have you tried electrotherapy for chronic back pain or sciatica?  TENS is probably the most well-known form of electrotherapy, but many find more long lasting pain relief with Interferential electrotherapy. Try it for yourself at no cost.

More Free or No Cost Pain Relievers

Tennis balls are just one way to help relief pain and tight muscles. There are many other simple and low cost (or even free) ways to make chronic pain more bearable. Without relying on drugs which may be toxic or have undesirable side effects. To learn more, fill out the form next to the video above.

Belly Turning Pose

Proper posture goes hand in hand with a healthy back and spine. Poor posture can lead to back pain, sciatica and other problems.

This video shows a basic core strengthening exercise called, Belly Turning Pose.

This is part of Lillah’s 6 part series, Improve Your Posture with Yoga.

Start out lying on your back, with arms spread out. Be sure to follow Lillah’s instructions regarding the position of the knees. This pose takes only a couple minutes to do.

Check out some of Lillah’s other back pain videos here.

Caffeine and Pain

Stiff Neck and Sore Back

Caffeine certainly contributes to pain in my body. I can feel it, oftentimes while drinking a cup of coffee. My neck starts to tighten up, my jaw gets cranky, and the lower back starts to get sore.
Switching to white tea, made a noticeable difference within days. white tea contains less

caffeine than green tea, which has less than black tea, which has much less than coffee. – Especially if it came from Starbucks or some other high end coffee shop.

Inflammation and Muscle Tension

Coffee has been linked to inflammation, which is a factor in pain.
Too much caffeine can lead to muscle tension, which can add to aches and pains.

Not to mention the fact that caffeine clearly contributes to stress. We have all heard about the negative effects of stress. The adrenal glands take a beating, when the caffeine load gets too high.

So the bottom line: Is coffee or tea right for you? These drinks actually do have some health benefits, like antioxidants. And they do come from plants, so coffee could be considered a vegetable.  – It’s a stretch I know…

In another video, I’ll be sharing a simple technique, that will help you determine if caffeiene is right for you, how much and in what form. It’s a dead easy technique, anyone can do at home.

What happens to us from this toxic exposure? Certainly, a lot of things happen. Primarily, our bodies stop responding the way they’re supposed to.

First, understand that there are good metals: calcium, magnesium, phosphorus, sodium, potassium, iron.

In low doses, copper, manganese, boron. These things are necessary for life. They are cofactors in enzymes and proteins. They allow our body to work.

Heavy Metals Displace Good Minerals

What happens is when heavy metals get into our body: mercury, arsenic, cadmium, lead, tin, bismuth, aluminum, antimony… When these things get into our body, they replace the good metals. They can displace the good metals, take their place in enzymes and proteins and, therefore, stop the body’s natural processes.

Different metals do different things because they’re stored in different parts of the body. That’s called “sequestration.” I’ll give you just one example, because it actually lends itself to some of the other things I’ll say tonight.

Does anyone know what a zinc finger protein is? You have to understand that proteins need a three-dimensional structure. It’s three-dimensional structure tells you what it does. It’s kind of like lock and key. If the key doesn’t fit the lock, it’s not going to turn.

Zinc finger proteins have a zinc in the middle of the protein. It holds the shape of the protein. Zinc finger proteins are necessary for cellular division. Any time you need a cell to divide and make a new cell, zinc finger proteins come in and help copy the DNA. That’s part of it’s function.

The Healing Process

It’s especially important in the healing process. It’s especially important in the immune system reactivity. When you have a bacterial infection or a viral infection, you need to make more white blood cells. Zinc finger proteins come in and help you make new cells.

This is one of the reasons you might suck on a zinc lozenge when you have a cold. You get a zinc lozenge, more zinc. More zinc finger proteins, more white bloods cells. You’re able to fight the cold. Now it makes sense?

Bad Minerals Replace Good

All right. The problem is, zinc can be displaced, usually by arsenic. If arsenic comes in and displaces the zinc, arsenic is smaller than zinc. The protein changes shape. Once it changes shape, it doesn’t work anymore. It’s like shaving off a piece of your key. It’s not going to turn the lock.

What happens when you have arsenic poisoning? You don’t heal as well. Your immune system doesn’t work as well. One of the main reasons for that is because of down-regulation of zinc finger protein activity. Does this make sense to everybody?

Remove Heavy Metals

Say you do something that removes the arsenic from your body. We’re going to talk about natural cellular defense. You use natural cellular defense. You reduce arsenic in the body, and you start to heal faster. You don’t get sick as much.

Did natural cellular defense prevent sickness? Did it make your body heal? No. All it did is take the thing out of your body that was slowing those processes down. All it did was allow your body to do what it’s supposed to do, what it was made to do: to heal and to fight disease. Does that make sense to everybody?

Available to Waiora Members

Get Your Membership Now, just $30 for membership.

Allows you to get wholesale pricing.

It certainly can be depressing to be in pain all the time. There are several different reason that chronic pain can lead to depression to one degree or another.

• Inability to sleep well, and get a good night of full rest
• Lack of movement, exercise is a natural anti-depressant
• A sense of despair, – will this pain ever go away?
• Pain is a stress on the body, leading to chronic ongoing stress
• Lack of sunlight, which leads to low vitamin D levels, which can affect mood
• Lack of social interaction
• Addiction to pain medication

And the list could go on, but you get the idea. Chronic pain and depression go hand in hand like peanut butter and jelly. Many people get into a situation where they feel there is no hope.

Let’s just look at the second item on the list; lack of movement. Often pain sufferers become much more sedentary, because it just plain hurts to move. They end up on the couch all day, or sitting in a chair a lot.  Folks who exercise properly are familiar with the mood boosting benefits of exercise.  Sometime just getting out for a walk around the neighborhood can help a lot.

Lack of movement also effects a couple of other items on the list, lack of sunlight and social interaction.

Getting back in motion can often go a long way towards helping a person feel better on the inside.

The Infrex Plus may be able to help the situation. The Infrex is an electrotherapy unit. By placing the electrode pads on the skin surrounding the painful area, a gentle electric current is able to help reduce pain. This type of therapy works great for some types of pain, and not so well for others.   Your doctor can help you determine if Interferential of TENS therapy would be right for you.  These are the 2 types of electrotherapy provided by the Infrex Plus unit.

You can get a free trial of the Infrex Plus, just fill out the form on the right hand side of this site to get going on your no-obligation free trial. Sometimes the only way to find out if it will work for you, is to test it out for yourself.

A doctor’s prescription is needed to obtain the unit. We are more than glad to help you with that, if need be.

I came across this video on Youtube, dealing with depression. The girl in this video makes some great points. Please note: we are not responsible for the content of this video. (just a little disclaimer)

Hey Bob,

Thanks for dropping off the units and sharing your exuberance!

• I tried it on a friend’s leg who’s been having pain in his leg after a motorcycle accident (frx fibula) and his pain was markedly reduced even after sitting for dinner with his leg dependent for 45″.
• Had to move the electrodes once secondary to burning
• The electrodes were 2″. I thought you said IFT needed 3″ electrodes??
• Can I get 3″ electrodes?
• I just started on gmail and having fun with it-don’t know how to increase font size.
• If Jim likes the unit-he’s been taking regular pain meds-surprised he didn’t have pain after 45″ IFT when he was overdue for meds. He doesn’t take off his space boot even at  night since the pain then goes up (I think compression tol limit edema)-I will have him sign up for insurance coverage; he’ll have to get a script. He just had an MRI yesterday since it’s been a month and he’s still having a lot of pain. No sx, just space boot. Looking for possible torn tissues.
• OK, i  just looked in the box for the first time and found the 2.75″ electrodes, so I’ll have to call Jim.
• I’ll let you know how he’s doing

Jeff