Actipatch Musculoskeletal Pain Relief

Chronic pain management remains one of the challenges in the medical profession. Adding to conundrums such as balancing medicine use with quality of life, is the reality that the central nervous system can become stuck in a centrally sensitised pain state. Central sensitisation – as this process is called – changes a person’s pain sensitivity, allowing the perception of pain to continue even after an injury has healed. This is because pain thresholds are lowered, leading to a heightened perception of pain. Stimuli that are normally painless can produce pain, while stimuli that produce pain will produce pain at much higher levels (hyperalgesia).

Central sensitisation can be associated with well-known chronic pain culprits such as lower back and neck pain, and the agony caused by osteoarthritis in the knee.

The device consists of three components, namely an integrated circuit, an antenna and a lithium battery (3V). When the antenna is placed over the area to be treated, radio-frequency energy from the antenna is transferred into the target tissue as a localised therapy.

ActiPatch® is indicated for the adjunctive treatment of musculoskeletal pain and should be used for between 12 and 24 hours per day.Pain relief is not immediate; it could take three to four days for the therapy to take effect.

Depending on the severity of the injury, patient pain levels can begin to subside after only 2–3 hours of wearing the device and will continue to decrease as long as the device is being used continuously or at least 12 hours per day. If the device is used in this way, it may last up to two months before replacement is required – the current design does not have a replaceable battery.

Daily treatment may be continuous or intermittent and overnight therapy is an effective option. The low-power energy ensures that the device does not produce any sensation, be it heat, noise or vibration.

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