Cranial Electrotherapy Stimulation (CES) for pain relief
CES for pain relief
* IMPORTANT * - Re:SOTA instruments
Please read this
disclaimer
CES is very effective for pain relief
A few documented, responsive chronic pain states are:
• Arthritis
• Headaches
(Kirsh, 2015)
• Fibromyalgia.
Fibromyalgia patients with severe chronic
headaches, who had failed to respond to biofeedback, low tyramine diet, physical
therapy and local injections, were treated with CES. About half of the 75 subjects
had a significant reduction in the frequency and intensity of headaches. This study
also found an overall decrease in the sensitivity of six main tender points on various
body parts;
(Taylor et al, 2013; Taylor et al Dec 2013; Cork et
al 2004; Lichtbroun et al, 2001; )
• Lower back pain
(Zimmerman et al, 1987)
• Spinal cord injury pain
(Tan et al, 2011; Tan et al 2006; Tan et
al, 2003)
• Reflex sympathetic
dystrophy
• Temporomandibular
joint (TMJ) dysfunction syndrome
• Migraine.
CES found to reduce frequency, intensity and duration
of migraine headaches. (Brotman, 1989)
• Cancer Pain.
In every case there was a positive effect in decreasing
pain applying CES treatments to severe intractable cancer pain
that failed to achieve relief with heavy medication and surgery (studies conducted
by the Division of Otolaryngology, Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine,
and the Veterans Administration Medical Center in Cleveland, Ohio)
(Yennurajalingam et al, 2017)
• Pain in Parkinson's
disease (Rintala et al, 2010)
• Miscellaneous chronic
pain / pain control (Brotman et al, 1989;
Heffernan et al 1997; Rintal et al, 2010; Roth et al, 1986; Sizer et al, 2000;
Zimmerman et al, 1987; Keizer et al, 2016; Kirsch et al, 2015; Smith 2001; Bauer,
1983; Holubec, 2009; Kulkarni and Smith, 2001; Tae-Kyu Lee et al, 2004; Tan et al,
2010; Yennurajalingam et al, 2017 )
References www.stress.org
Randomized Controlled Trials
Fibromyalgia :
Cork, Randall C., Wood, Patrick, Ming, Norbert, Shepherd, Clifton,
Eddy, James, Price, Larry. (2004) The
Effect of Cranial Electrotherapy Stimulation (CES) on Pain Associated with
Fibromyalgia . The Internet Journal of Anesthesiology, 8(2). pdf
Lichtbroun, Alan S., Raicer, Mei-Ming C., and Smith, Ray B.
(2001)
The Treatment of Fibromyalgia with Cranial Electrotherapy Stimulation. Journal
of Clinical Rheumatology, 7(2):72-78. Presented at the Fifteenth Annual
International Symposium on Acupuncture and Electro-Therapeutics, Columbia University,
New York, October 1999. pdf
link
Taylor, Ann Gill, Anderson, Joel G., Riedel, Shannon L., Lewis,
Jante E., Kinser, Patricia A., and Bourguignon, Cheryl. (Dec. 2013) Cranial
electrical stimulation improves symptoms and functional status in individuals
with fibromyalgia. Pain Management Nursing;14(4):327-335. pdf
Taylor, Ann Gill, Anderson, Joel G., Riedel, Shannon L., Lewis,
Janet E. and Bourguignon, Cheryl. (2013)
A randomized, controlled,
double-blind pilot study of the effects of cranial electrical stimulation on activity
in brain pain processing regions in individuals with fibromyalgia . Explore, 9(1):32-40. pdf
Spinal cord injury:
Tan, Gabriel, Rintala, Diana, Jensen, Mark P., Richards, J.
Scott, Holmes, Sally Ann, Parachuri, Rama, Lashgari-Saegh, Shamsi and Price, Larry
R. (2011) Efficacy
of cranial electrotherapy stimulation for neuropathic pain following spinal
cord injury : a multi-site randomized controlled trial with a secondary
6-month open-label phase . The Journal of Spinal Cord Medicine, 34(3):285-296. pdf
Tan, Gabriel, Rintala, Diana H., Thornby, John, Yang, June,
Wade, Walter, and Vasilev, Christine. (April 7, 2006) Using
Cranial Electrotherapy Stimulation to Treat Pain Associated with Spinal
Cord Injury .Journal of Rehabilitation Research and Development, 43(4):461-474, 2006.
Presented at the South Central VA Health Care Network'sPain Management Initiative
2nd Annual Pain Management Symposium: Campaign Against Pain. Jackson, Mississippi. pdf
Tan, G., Rintala, D., Herrington, R., Yang, J., Wade, W., Vasilev,
C. and Shanti, B.F. (2003)
Treating Spinal Cord Injury Pain With Cranial Electrotherapy Stimulation. Journal
of Spinal Cord Medicine, 26(3). Poster presented at the Annual Meeting of the American
Paraplegia Society, Las Vegas, Nevada, September 2-4, 2003. pdf
Poster
Miscellaneous Chronic Pain :
Brotman, Philip. (1989) Low-intensity transcranial electrostimulation
improves the efficacy of thermal biofeedback and quieting reflex training in the
treatment of classical migraine headache . American Journal
of Electromedicine, 6(5):120-123. Doctoral dissertation, City University Los
Angeles, 117 pages, 1986. pdf
Heffernan, Michael. (1997)
The Effect of Variable Microcurrents on EEG Spectrum and Pain Control . Canadian
Journal of Clinical Medicine, 4(10):4-11. pdf
Rintala, Diana H., Tan, Gabriel, Willson, Pamela , Bryant, Mon
S., and Lai, Eugene C. H. (2010) Feasibility
of Using Cranial Electrotherapy Stimulation for Pain in Persons with parkinson'sdisease . Parkinson'sDisease. 8 pages. pdf
Roth, Peter M, & Thrash, William J. (1986) Effect
of Transcutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulation for Controlling Pain Associated
with Orthodontic Tooth Movement . American Journal of Orthodontics, 90(2):132-138. pdf
Sizer P, Sawyer S, Brismee J, Jones K, Bruce J, Slauterbeck
J. (Jun 2000) The
Effect of Microcurrent Stimulation on Postoperative Pain After
Patellar Tendon-Bone Anterior Cruciate Ligament Reconstruction. Presented
at the American Physical Therapy Association Annual Conference and Exposition, Indianapolis,
Indiana.
Zimmerman, Stephen I, & Lerner, Fred N. (June 1989) Biofeedback
and Electromedicine Reduce the Cycle of Pain Spasm Pain in Low Back Patients . Medical
Electronics, 117:108-120. Doctoral dissertation (SZ), City University Los Angeles, 284
pages, 1987. pdf
Case Series and Reports
Keizer B, Sposato L, and Yancosek K. (2016) A Progressive
Treatment for a Chronic Progressive Disease: The War Against Complex Regional
Pain Syndrome . The Pain Practitioner. 6(1):26-31. pdf
Kirsch DL, Price LR, Nichols F, Marksberry JA and Platoni KT. (2015)
Cranial Electrotherapy Stimulation: Treatment of Pain and Headache
in Military Population.Practical Pain Management, 15(8):57-64. pdf
Smith, Ray B. (2001)
Is Microcurrent Stimulation Effective in Pain Management ? An Additional
Perspective. American Journal of Pain Management, 11(2):62-66.
pdf
Bauer, William. (1983)
Electrical Treatment of Severe Head and Neck Cancer Pain . Archives
of Otolaryngology, 109(6):382-383. pdf
Open Clinical Trials
Holubec, Jerry T (2009) Cumulative Response From Cranial
Electrotherapy Stimulation (CES) for Chronic Pain Practical Pain Management , 9(9):80-83
. pdf
Kulkarni, Arun D. and Smith, Ray B. (2001)
The Use of Microcurrent Electrical Therapy and Cranial Electrotherapy Stimulation
in Pain Control. Clinical Practice of Alternative Medicine.2(2):99-102. pdf
Tae-Kyu Lee, Kwan-Sung Lee, Shin-Soo Jeun, Young-Kil Hong, Chun-Kun
Park, Joon-Ki, Moon-Chan Kim (April 14, 2004)
The control of chronic pain using Microcurrent Electrical Therapy
and Cranial Electrotherapy Stimulation. From the Department of Neurosurgery,
Kangnam St. Mary'sHospital, College Of Medicine, and The Catholic University of
Korea, Seoul, Korea. Presented at the Korea Society for Stereotactic & Functional
Neurosurgery.
Tan, Gabriel, Dao, Tam K., Smith, Donna L., Robinson, Andrew
and Jensen, Mark P. (2010) Incorporating
Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM) Therapies to Expand Psychological Services
to Veterans Suffering From Chronic Pain . Psychological
Services, 7(3):148-161. pdf
Yennurajalingam S, Kang D-H, Hwu W-J, Padhye NS, Masino C, Dibaj
SS, Liu DD, Williams JL, Lu Z, Bruera E. (Sep. 2017)
Cranial electrotherapy stimulation for the management of depression, anxiety,
sleep disturbance, and pain in patients with advanced cancer : a preliminary
study. Journal of Pain and Symptom Management. E-published ahead
of print.