The use of cranial electrotherapy stimulation in the management of chronic pain: A review

Article type: Research Article

Authors: Kirsch, Daniel L.^{a; *} | Smith, Ray B.^b

Affiliations: [a] Chairman, Electromedical Products International, Inc., Mineral Wells, TX, USA | [b] Director of Science, Electromedical Products International, Inc., Mineral Wells, TX, USA

Correspondence: [*] 2201 Garrett Morris Parkway, Mineral Wells, TX 76067-9484, USA. Tel.: +1 940 328 0788; Fax: +1 940 328 0888, E-mail: [email protected]

Abstract: Cranial Electrotherapy Stimulation (CES) has a growing history of applications in rehabilitation medicine in the United States dating back to early 1970. As a recognized non-drug treatment of anxiety, depression and insomnia, CES gained its first major application in the field of addiction treatment and rehabilitation. By the mid 1980s research was showing additional important uses of CES in the treatment of closed head injured patients, and in paraplegic and quadriplegic patients. The most recent research is showing CES to be highly effective in the management of chronic pain patients. It may be elevating the pain threshold due to its stress reducing effects when anxiety and depression are reduced below clinical levels. Modern theorists of a pain neuromatrix in the cerebral cortex may provide an additional basis for understanding CES mechanisms in the control of pain related disorders.

DOI: 10.3233/NRE-2000-14204

Journal: NeuroRehabilitation, vol. 14, no. 2, pp. 85-94, 2000