Interference therapy

The interference therapy (also interference current therapy , interference current treatment , medium-frequency therapy , NEMEC therapy ) is a form of electro-therapy should overlap in which medium-frequency currents in the interior of the cloth and cause there through a low-frequency intensity modulation an endogenous stimulus.

Interference therapy was developed in the 1940s by the Austrian physicist Hans Nemec (* 1907; † 1981) and is now used therapeutically for various indications. In the case of chronic back pain, it is not expressly recommended in the “European guidelines for dealing with unspecific low back pain”. In a meta-analysis it was found that interference current therapy as a single therapy application did not show any significant effect, but that it was superior to a control group or a placebo as an addition to a physical combination therapy.

Interference therapy in physical medicine should not be confused with bacterial interference therapy.

Basics of IF therapy

The current is not supplied to the body in one circuit, as is the case with conventional stimulation currents, but in 2 circuits. Both circles should cross in the body at the point of the intended effect. This point is framed in a square or rectangular way so that the two electrodes of one circuit are each diagonally opposite and the intersection of the two circuits is in the treatment area. In both circuits, sinusoidal alternating current of medium frequency (around 4000 Hz) is fed to the body. Both circuits have constant intensity under the electrodes. Both circuits have a frequency difference between 1 and 100 Hz. In the area where the two circuits intersect, there are continuous phase shifts due to the frequency difference. The result is an interference current that is localized to the mixing area inside the body.

Differences in effect to conventional stimulation currents

The interference therapy does not cause any sensitive annoyance in the sense of an electrical pain. There is no risk of acid burns to the skin because alternating current does not produce any corrosive substances under the skin. The concentration of the healing stimulus can be applied to any desired location. There is no getting used to a given stimulus pattern, which is always the same with conventional currents according to frequency or current strength. Cross stimulation of the nerves is possible with MF current. The stimulus arises from the entirety of the current changes, called the summation effect.

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1. ↑ Definition of "Ärztliche Praxis" http://www.aerztlichepraxis.de/rw_4_Lexikon_HoleEintrag_37546_Eintrag.htm ( Memento from September 28, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) , accessed on February 11, 2012.
2. ↑ A. Becker et al.: European guidelines for dealing with unspecific low back pain . online (PDF; 182 kB) ( Memento of the original from April 25, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , accessed February 11, 2012. 
3. ↑ Phys Ther. 2010 Sep; 90 (9): 1219-38. doi : 10.2522 / ptj.20090335 . Epub 2010 Jul 22.

• Ottosteueragel: Scripts on electrotherapy. Volume 2, 9th edition. Verlag Elektrotherapy Steueragel, Boppard 1984, ISBN 3-9800445-2-1 .

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