Has anyone used Electronic Muscle Stimulators to counteract some of the side effects of MC such as muscle weakness. My son's physical therapist, while treating a shoulder injury my son sustained from a fall, has become very interested in his muscle problems due to his MC & recommended using an electronic muscle stimulator to help increase his blood circulation in his leg muscles to improve his muscle strength. Anyone have any experience with that? Any reason he shouldn't give it a try?

Type of Myotonia: Thomsen

Country: USA

They make most of us worse because they cause contraction of the muscles. TENS units and microstimulation devices are very painful for me and my daughter has had the same experience. The idea is to fatigue the muscle with low level electrical current so it quits going into spasms.

Most PTs don't understand the physiology of myotonia and confuse the therapy they would do for myotonic dystrophy (where the muscles atrophy and lose strength) with the weakness that we experience that is caused by electrolyte shifts in the muscle cells.

One therapy that can be very helpful for us is called anodyne therapy. It uses small LED diodes to stimulate circulation to an area to heal damaged nerves and torn tissue. It should not worsen the myotonia so it's one of the few modalities we can use to treat injuries. Ice is definitely not a great idea!

If your son has muscle weakness in his legs from another condition, then the stimulators might be beneficial as long as it is adjusted very carefully to avoid cramping and exacerbation of the myotonia.

Jan

Type of Myotonia: Thomsen's

Country: USA

Thank you so much for your help.

Type of Myotonia: Thomsen

Country: USA