Question
I have a 7 year old child that is being treated for cervical strain/sprain with e-stim. He is receiving the same treatment that I am for the same complaints (MVA related). I am concerned that the e-stim which is being applied to his neck muscles is too strong. It is the same frequency that I am receiving (80 to 120 Hz x 10 minutes). Or, is my therapy not strong enough? The chiro has also set up a treatment plan to cover 7 weeks of treatment yet my 7 year olds complaints are only mild, achy pain. I am just concerned as to why he needs manipulation, e-stim, trigger point therapy and therapeutic exercises.


Answer
Hi Kathy,

There is only one study I'm aware of that showed a small benefit when including e-stim along with manipulation and exercises in MVA patients with neck pain.   Otherwise, all other research points to e-stim as having no therepeutic benefit.   Personally, I stopped using estim on a routine bases many years ago.  It really doesn't fix anything and likely has no benefit, especially on a 7 y.o. child.  Mild soft tissue work, even if it is massage, along with some moist heat and careful joint manipulation may be all he needs.  Like any other patient, he should provide a pain-score periodically.  For kids, instead of asking for pain rated from 1-to-10, there are a series of smiley faces that progress from smile to frown (with tears) to describe the pain.   If your 7 y.o. child has little pain, then there is little reason to provide extensive care.  Another interesting piece of research showed that frequent, extensive care prolonged recovery in whiplash cases.    I'd suggest giving up the estim altogether...

Hope this helps...  

'Regards,

Dr. G