Day 21 - Does the stimulator actually work?

There seems to be a fair amount of evidence showing that the muscle stimulator, or estimulator, does help strengthen muscles that have become weak. In a review in the Sports Injury Bulletin, Owen Anderson wrote this:

"[S]tudy after study has confirmed that the right kinds of electrical stimulation can keep muscles relatively sound, even when they are not being stimulated by the nervous system or engaging in any real activity."

That's pretty cool. But give us a real world example we can understand, Owen. Oh wait, he did. And helpfully it was related to an ACL sprain. Not a tear, but close enough for government work:

"In one of the earliest published studies on the effects of high-intensity electrical stimulation on the maintenance of size and strength in immobilised muscles, researchers electrically stimulated the quads and hamstrings on a daily basis for three weeks in the immobilised leg of an athlete wearing a lower-extremity cast as a result of Grade-II medial-collateral and anterior-cruciate ligament sprains in his knee (2). On the day the cast was removed, the girth of the athletes thigh was increased, suggesting that muscle hypertrophy had occurred, instead of the usual cast-associated atrophy. In addition, single-leg, vertical-leap height was 92% as great in the immobilised leg following cast removal, compared with the uninjured leg, and the athlete was able to immediately return to competition."

Sounds great. So another week of this estim machine and maybe I'll look like this:


Wait, wha?!

Actually, that won't happen. Read the rest of Owen's article for the full details, but basically while the estim will help bulk up weak muscles, it isn't going to work any steroid-like miracles. Thank Zeus.

On an unrelated note, according to the three lovely ladies that penned this piece about the applications of physics in physical therapy for the University of North Carolina, estim is also used in vet medicine. An excuse to work in a shot of my dog, Darwin: