What Is IFT Physiotherapy? Key Uses and Benefits Explained

What is Interferential Therapy(IFT)?

Interferential therapy (IFT) is considered to be non-invasive physical therapy for pain relief and tissue repair. By using a low-frequency electrical current that generates a frequency intending to prevent pain signals from being transmitted to the brain.

This frequency is called an interferential current or IFC. IFT is part of a comprehensive rehabilitation program, where it can help decrease inflammation, muscle spasms, and pain while promoting tissue healing.

Types of IFT Treatments

There are two types of IFT machines available. One is strictly used by professionals, and the other one is lighter, portable, and usable even with little to no training.

IFT Machines Are:

• The frequency of the beats needs to be perfect.
• Operators must adjust the intensity of the currents to provide optimal pain relief.
• How you place the IFT machine’s electrodes on the patient’s body also matters.
• The injured body parts must be localized so the patient feels the therapy’s effects.

The Type of Frequency Differs on The Treatment:

• Vector Effects – Create frequency fields that cover large areas. Treat injuries that are hard to localize (e.g., neck pain).
• Frequency Swings – Swing frequencies between 0 and 100 Hz in specific periods. Create rhythmic frequency swings to create maximum relief in acutely injured body parts.
• Relentless Frequency – Expose the patient to specific frequencies for long periods. This approach is good for getting responses from particular tissues.

IFT In Pain Management

IFT helps to reduce inflammation, which can ultimately help in reducing pain. It helps pain associated with different acute and chronic conditions, including arthritis, tendonitis, carpal tunnel syndrome, and plantar fasciitis. Rehabilitation programs also include IFT and reduce pain and suffering.

Let’s Look Into The Benefits

As the story suggests, there are several benefits of IFT physiotherapy, let’s take a look at the many benefits

• Providing instantaneous pain relief to deep tissue injuries.
• Constant contraction of muscles creates relaxing effects. When spasmodic muscles relax, our blood circulation improves.
• Better blood circulation leads to faster soft tissue repair.
• Contraction of muscles reduces swelling, bruising, and inflammation.
• The vibrations eliminate harmful substances, such as toxins, from the affected areas.
• Increasing muscle stimulation improves patients’ metabolic rates.
• Healthier blood circulation also leads to decreased blood pressure.
• Treating chronic and painful ligament injuries with this non-invasive therapy is more manageable.
• Constant physiotherapy from IFT machines also eliminates long-term joint movement restrictions.
• Post-surgery IFT physiotherapy helps patients restore the muscle movement they lost.

Conditions That Can Be Treated By IFT

Some of the conditions that can be treated by IFT are:

Cervical Spondylosis –

IFT for shoulder pain helps cure neck and spine degenerative osteoarthritis. It cures muscle spasms and gradually decreases the amount of pain patients experience.

Ankylosing Spondylitis –

IFT for shoulder pain can cure inflammatory arthritis in the vertebrae. The frequencies prevent wastage buildup in injured locations. A damaged vertebra heals faster.

Osteoarthritis of the Knee –

Regular IFT physiotherapy loosens the tendons around the knee area. The frequencies also promote the production of endorphins which causes the inflamed muscles and tendons to heal faster.

Edema –

Patients with this condition have too much watery fluid in their tissues. The vibrations from the IFT treatment frequencies eliminate extra fluids from the tissues. Better circulation also leads to these fluids exiting the affected areas faster.

People That Will Benefit From IFT

Individuals with Chronic Pain: IFT is an effective therapeutic option for managing chronic pain conditions, including fibromyalgia, osteoarthritis, and persistent lower back pain.

Athletes: IFT supports athletic recovery by enhancing circulation, reducing inflammation, and promoting muscle stimulation. It can also aid in performance optimization and injury rehabilitation.

Patients with Acute Injuries: IFT facilitates pain management and accelerates healing for acute musculoskeletal injuries, such as sprains, strains, and fractures.

Older Adults: IFT is beneficial for seniors experiencing age-related musculoskeletal pain, stiffness, or post-surgical recovery.

Individuals with Peripheral Neuropathy: IFT may help alleviate symptoms associated with peripheral neuropathy, including numbness, pain, and tingling in the extremities.

Patients with Tension Headaches: IFT can effectively reduce muscle tension in the neck and shoulders, offering relief from tension-related headaches.

Individuals with Joint Pain: IFT serves as a valuable intervention for managing joint pain and inflammation in conditions such as rheumatoid arthritis.

Here Are Also Some Risks Of IFT Physiotherapy

Professional IFT physiotherapy is a highly safe and effective treatment when administered by trained professionals. However, using IFT machines at home carries potential risks and requires careful handling.

To ensure safety and efficacy:

• Proper maintenance of the machine, including electrodes and electrode covers, is essential to prevent malfunction and reduce infection risks.
• IFT devices should not be shared among multiple users to avoid cross-contamination.
• Using larger electrode systems is recommended, as small electrodes can make accurate positioning difficult and may provide inadequate coverage of the affected area.
• Closely spaced electrodes may lead to superficial tissue irritation, causing discomfort for the user.
• Higher stimulation frequencies pass more easily through the skin, reducing discomfort, while lower frequencies require greater electrical input and may cause irritation in superficial tissues rather than effectively reaching deeper structures.

Choosing The Right Doctors

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Here is some frequently asked questions about IFT physiotherapy:

Q1. What is IFT in Physiotherapy Used For?

IFT delivers intermittent pulses to stimulate surface nerves and block the pain signal, by delivering continuous deep stimulation into the affected tissue. IFT relieves pain, increases circulation, decreases edema, and stimulates the muscles.

Q2. What Are The Benefits of Interferential Therapy?

Depending on the frequency of the current applied to the body, interferential therapy can give pain relief, improve blood flow, and/or improve muscle activity.

Q3. What is The Basic Principle of IFT?

The basic principle of Interferential Therapy (IFT) is to utilize the significant physiological effects of low-frequency (<250pps) electrical stimulation of nerves without the associated painful and somewhat unpleasant side effects sometimes associated with low-frequency stimulation.

Conclusion