The History of Electrotherapy and Its Union with Bioelectric Meridian Therapy
Pain has been relieved by electricity since ancient times, with the first variations of the Electrotherapy Device dating back to the 18th century. Today things are far more advanced, ABMMA’s BMT Device is the key source of bioelectricity used in Bioelectric Meridian Therapy. Here we deep dive into the history of electrotherapy, focusing on the first experiments and how practitioners use this practice to effectively reduce the symptoms of pain in a modern world.
The First Therapy Practices
This first act of electric therapy was by live electric fish being applied to the tender part of the muscle to create numbness. In the mid 18th century, particular machines were discovered to produce electro-static electricity and the use of living organisms was discontinued.
By the late 18th century, chemical means of producing electricity from the first form of battery or voltaic pile were created. This breakthrough meant bioelectric electricity could be produced without recourse to animal tissues or frictional machines with varying efficiency. This discovery then led to the medical use of a direct current.
The first recorded treatment on a patient was by Johann Gottlob Krüger in 1743. The treatment was then promoted as a remedy in 1747 but was later rejected by mainstream medicine.
The first medical treatments with electricity in London have been recorded as far back as 1767. The record of uses other than being therapeutic is not clear, however, Guy’s Hospital has a published list of cases from the earlier 1800s. In the mid-19th century, electrotherapy was brought into mainstream medicine by Golding Bird from Guy’s Hospital. In the second half of the 19th century, the therapy focused on delivering more measured and controlled doses to the body rather than large shocks.
These early experiments showed how the stimulation of the nervous system brought profound relief from pain. A variety of safer, alternating and un-interrupted currents have been employed in electrotherapy ever since, particularly in the form of electroacupuncture, TENS (Transcutaneous Electrical Stimulation) and Bioelectric Meridian Therapy (BMT).
Today, electrotherapy is primarily used in physical therapy, such as BMT. Its main treatment focuses on the relaxation of muscle spasms, an increase of blood circulation, muscle rehabilitation and re-education, maintaining and increasing range of motion, management of chronic pain, post-traumatic acute pain, post-surgical acute pain and immediate post-surgical stimulation of muscles.
History has used these experiments to expand and develop electric therapy with modern technology. Modern bioelectric therapy practises, involve electrodes being placed on the acupressure points of the body, linking to the meridians. The electrodes are connected to a computer, which determines the amount of electric current to be introduced to the electrodes.
This electric therapy permits the modern practitioner to stimulate the nervous system in several different ways to induce the selective production of various monoamines, amino acids and peptides in the central nervous system. In turn, reducing pain to help the body heal.
This laid the foundations of electrotherapy theory and has culminated in ABMMA’s Bioelectric Meridian Therapy Device we have today.
Bioelectric Meridian Therapy Device Today
The BMT Device is the key source of bioelectricity used in Bioelectric Meridian Massage Therapy. The Device generates low voltage electrical pulses of a specific amplitude and duration. The pattern of these pulses has been developed and refined to complement the body’s natural electrical signature. The therapist has full control over the application of the bioelectric energy and can increase or decrease the intensity as required, and can select the optimum frequency based on tissue feedback from the client.
Regular Bioelectric Meridian massage promotes the body’s self-healing mechanism through unblocking the meridian pathways, increasing proprioceptive communication within the systems and allowing the body to get back to homeostasis.
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