Interferential for Osteoarthritic Knee Pain

   Interferential therapy has been used for the management of inflammatory pain conditions and is gaining popularity.(1)  The use of interferential for osteoarthritic knee pain  is gaining acceptance over the use of NSAIDs (Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs)  due to it’s simplicity and lack of any relevant side effects.  The benefit of interferential for acute pain situations may be more demonstrable than it’s use for chronic pain, which is a symptomatic diagnosis rather than a causative agent of pain.  Now it is possible for a patient to self treat from their home or office so it should not be unexpected that the use of interferential for osteoarthritic pain may experience an upsurge in new non-drug applications for pain relief and greater mobility, pain free.

    Two studies ( 2) (3) demonstrated that the use of interferential therapy, IFC treatment,  done twice daily can provide pain relief between 1 week to as long as 6 months.   The importance of those studies is to compare a safe therapy, IFC, to the use of NSAIDS and the effect of the long term relief gained by interferential over the very short duration of relief from drugs.  The pain relief from interferential is immediate and provides a strong analgesia for the patient so resumption of daily activities is immediate and pain free.

     The study highlites  the major strength of interferential therapy providing carryover pain relief for the patient without having to do daily or even weekly treatments.

   For information on how to use the Infrex Plus For Osteoarthritis watch this video.


Studies this article taken from:

            (1) Payne R. Limitations of NSAIDs for pain management: toxicity or lack of efficacy? The Journal of Pain. 2000;1:14-18.

           (2) Shafshak TS, el-Sheshai AM, Soltan HE. Personality traits in the mechanisms of interferential therapy for osteoarthritic knee pain.- Arch Phys Med Rehabil. 1991;72:579-581.

           (3) Quirk A, Newman R, Newman K. An evaluation of interferential therapy, shortwave - Physiotherapy. 1985;71:55-57.