IFT Therapy at Home in Hirabaug, Pune

Interferential therapy, usually shortened to IFT, appears on many a physiotherapy note, and the family is left wondering how it differs from the TENS unit they have seen advertised. Both use mild electrical current passed through pads on the skin. What separates them is how the current is delivered and how deep it is meant to be felt, and that is what decides which one your physiotherapist reaches for.

The IFT therapy page explains the technique in general. Below is how it is chosen and used at a home visit in Hirabaug, and what it can and cannot be expected to do.

IFT or TENS: how the choice is made

IFT uses four pads arranged in a cross around the painful area. Two medium-frequency currents run between opposite pairs of pads, and where they meet they combine into a slower pulsing effect. Medium-frequency current passes through skin with less discomfort, so a stronger dose can sometimes be given without the sharp prickling that bothers some people with TENS. That is the reasoning for using IFT on pain that seems to sit deep, such as in the hip, the low back or a thick thigh muscle.

Honesty matters here. Studies of IFT, like those of TENS, have produced uneven results, and neither has been shown to change the course of a condition by itself. So the choice is practical: try one, ask how you feel afterwards, and switch if it is not helping. A comparison with TENS therapy in Hirabaug may help you see which description fits your pain.

Aching deep in the muscle after a long day on your feet

People in the peths around Hirabaug Chowk often finish the day with a pain they cannot point to precisely: a heaviness in the buttock after hours at a counter, a dragging ache in the thigh after the market, or a low back that stays tight after climbing stairs in a building without a lift. These are the situations where IFT is most often tried, followed immediately by movement that the ache had been blocking.

In the early weeks of a disc-related back problem, it may sit alongside the exercise programme described under slip disc physiotherapy in Hirabaug.

What happens during a visit

1. The physiotherapist asks about pacemakers, implants, pregnancy, skin conditions and any clotting problems, and checks the area for cuts, rashes and numb patches.
2. You are positioned comfortably, with the painful region supported and uncovered.
3. Four pads are fixed so that the paths of the currents cross where the pain is.
4. The intensity is raised slowly until you feel a firm pulse that is comfortable. You say when it changes or fades, and it is adjusted.
5. When the unit stops, the skin is checked again and the exercises begin while the area is at its most comfortable.

When IFT is not suitable

• You have a pacemaker or another implanted electronic device.
• The pads would lie over the abdomen or lower back in pregnancy.
• There is a suspected blood clot, for example a swollen, warm, tender calf.
• The skin is broken, infected, newly scarred or has lost feeling.
• There is an active tumour in the area, or fever and infection.

Older skin in long-time residents of the old city can be thin, so more padding and lower settings are used. A tingling that turns to burning, or a rash after the pads are removed, should be reported at once.

Signs that call for a doctor, not a current

A hot, swollen calf, new weakness in a leg, loss of control over the bladder or bowel, or pain with fever should be assessed by a doctor without delay. Electrical therapy has no place until the cause is known.

To arrange a visit, book a session. The Hirabaug area page describes how we reach the neighbourhood, and the Swargate IFT page serves the wider hub.