ALPHA-STIM M - PAIN CONTROL USAGE; Pain Level Assessment Guide

13
Clean Skin
Clean the skin around the treatment area before applying electrodes. Use mild soap
and water, alcohol pads or antibacterial wipes and allow skin to dry. Areas where
skin oils or dirt have accumulated, or where cosmetics or hair spray have been used,
must be thoroughly cleaned to ensure adequate conductivity. Monitor skin
condition prior to and post treatment. Skin irritation may develop in light skin. If skin
burns are noted following treatment, discontinue use and apply an appropriate skin
cream. Varying electrode locations may minimize irritation.
Evaluate Your Pain
Evaluate your pain before and from time-to-time during and after each treatment.
Your health care practitioner can give you guidelines to help you do a quick, simple
evaluation. This may consist of simply moving into a position that causes you to be
more aware of your pain, then noting the level of pain you are experiencing on a 0
(no pain) to 10 (maximum pain) scale at the beginning and end of each treatment.
Moving the affected body part through its range-of-motion and observing the
increased range along with the decreased pain after treatment are good indicators
of progress. Because Alpha-Stim
®
works quickly for most people it is helpful to use
these reference parameters to determine effectiveness throughout a single
treatment session. Keeping a daily (or even as often as hourly) chart of changes in
your pain locations and levels on a 0 to 10 scale will help track progress and may be
useful in determining the best areas to treat. To help you understand this system, a
description of pain levels follows (use odd numbers for between values, e.g., Level 1
would indicate a very slight pain that does not interfere with activities):
Pain Level Description
0 No pain.
2 Mild pain; only aware of pain when focused on it. Considered
nagging and annoying but only slightly interferes with activities
of daily living (ADL).
4 Tolerable pain; can be ignored somewhat.
6 Distressful pain; interferes significantly with ADL.
8 Severe pain; can not concentrate or do anything but simple tasks.
10 Disabling pain; unable to perform ADL.
It may also be helpful to keep a diary of Alpha-Stim
®
treatment times, duration of
each treatment, frequency (Hz) and current (µA) settings along with the electrode
locations you use.