The Effects of Transcutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulation and Microampere Electrical Nerve Stimulation on Sympathetic Tone in Healthy Subjects

경피신경전기자극과 미세전류자극이 정상인의 교감신경 긴장도에 미치는 영향

The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of two different forms of transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation(TENS) and one of microcurrent high voltage pulsed galvanic current(HVPC) on sympathetic tone in healthy subjects. Fourty subjects received TENS(20) and PVPC(30) during short time(20min). Left finger tip skin temperatures were measured at four interval for each treatment : 1) before treatment, 2) after 10 minutes treatment, 3)after 20 minutes treatment, and 4) after 10 minutes rest. The results were as follows. 1) TENS treatment group increased skin temperature after treatment 20 minutes, but HVPC treatment increased akin temperature after 10 minutes and recovered normal skin temperature after 10 minutes treatment. It means that short time(20min) electrical stimulation decreased sympathetic activities. 2) Sympathetic activities of TENS stimulation were influenced by age, but HVPC were not. 3) During 10 minutes, both treatment increased sympathetic activities, but HVPC treatment reversed sympathetic activity more rapidly than TENS. 4) The changes of skin temperature means by sex, males in TENS treatment group were higher than females, but HVPC were reverted.