How to we test for denervated muscle? As we will see in this article, a number of conditions can lead to denervation. Sometimes the extent of this denervation is hard to establish with equipment commonly available to the therapist. Perhaps the therapist tried “conventional” neuromuscular electrical stimulation (NMES) and could not produce a muscle contraction even with quite high intensity settings. Hence denervation was suspected, but without really being able to determine it’s extent.
The RISE stimulator provides a handy protocol that allows the presence and extent of denervation to be established and monitored over time. This article describes the process. First lets review some information on what exactly causes denervation, it’s consequences and the benefits of electrotherapy. We can then describe how the RISE unit can give is a denervation “benchmark”.

Skeletal muscle denervation is caused by damage or injury to the nerves that supply a muscle. This can occur as a result of a number of different conditions, including trauma to the spine or a peripheral nerve. Denervation can also result from infection, inflammation, and certain medical procedures. In some cases, denervated skeletal muscle may be caused by diseases that affect the nerves, such as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) or Guillain-Barré syndrome. Denervation can also occur as a complication of surgery, such as when a nerve is accidentally damaged during an operation.

Muscles can recover from denervation, despite the loss of nerve supply to a muscle. Sometimes this recovery happens with little intervention necessary. At Anatomical Concepts we are typically working with individuals where some intervention is indicated.

Denervated muscle can be rescued with electrotherapy resulting in improved health and appearance. We cover the basics in this article.

Electrical stimulation can be used to stimulate so-called denervated muscle as well as innervated. This necessitates quite different stimulation approaches. In this article we discuss how denervation can result from damage to peripheral nerves and how and why electrical stimulation is used to reverse muscle atrophy and improve tissue quality

For several years we have worked successfully with the Stimulette Den2x (replaced by RISE Stimulator) with many home based clients in the UK. The product was designed for simple use in a home environment and has proved itself to be very effective in restoring muscle tissue bulk and quality with clients who have an injury to the spine or peripheral nerves resulting in muscle denervation.

The new Edition 5 S2x electrotherapy device hosts a number of excellent stimulation protocols but we find that knowledge about their application is not that well understood. In a series of articles we will take a look at some of these protocols and how they might be used. The first protocol we explore is sometimes known as “Russian Stimulation” but it also goes by other names - for example Kotz stimulation or Burst Mode Alternating Current which does tend to lead to some confusion.