A modality of electrical twitch obtaining intramuscular stimulation pain relief therapy utilizes a surface probe with a conductive tip to apply surface electrical stimulation of relatively high voltage locally and focally to muscle motor points and regions of adjacent motor end plate zones. The surface-applied electrical stimulation through intact skin readily facilitates the elicitation of forceful twitch responses from muscle fibers associated with the stimulated motor points and motor end plate zones, without requiring needle penetration into the patient's flesh. Rapid movement between multiple treatment sites is possible allowing treatment of a larger number of muscle motor point areas in afflicted muscles and more muscles to be treated in a single treatment session. The therapeutic effect of the twitches increases with the force and number of the twitches. In addition, since physical insertion of the needle electrode is totally unnecessary, patients experience little to no pain during and after the procedure, and the risk of repetitive stress injury to the therapist is reduced. Additionally, significantly less skill is required to effectively elicit pain relieving twitch responses, thus facilitating training of medical and para-medical personnel to perform the procedure.
Intramuscular stimulation therapy using surface-applied localized electrical stimulation