By
DR. ROCK POSITANO
February 6, 2007
-- THERE are 206 bones in your average human adult, and each one can be broken
in myriad and troubling ways. Some breaks are minor and heal easily in a cast.
Others can be more complicated, requiring surgery and lengthy rehabilitation.
Thus, it's true that a fractured bone is never less than annoying and
frequently to usually quite painful and debilitating.
But there may be
a way to heal bones quicker: Zap it!
"Scientific
studies have shown that electricity stimulates bone formation in the
laboratory, and clinical studies have confirmed improved bone healing of
problem fractures with the use of electrical stimulation," says orthopedic
surgeon Dr. S. Robert Rozbruch of the Orthopedic Trauma Service at New
York-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center.
Don't worry -
we're not talking about electroshock treatment, nor should you try to
self-medicate by sticking your finger in a socket.
"We use
electrical stimulation for many fractures as an adjuvant to our normal
treatment," Rozbruch says. "The patient wears a padded coil or pads
on the skin inducing a painless electromagnetic field. This field created is
similar to the normal electrical impulses in the body that stimulate fracture healing,"
he adds. By mimicking those normal impulses, the use of electrical stimulation
is like pushing a fast-forward button on fracture healing.
The bone-growth
stimulator used was developed by EBI Medical Systems in Parsippany, N.J. The
unit is lightweight and usually worn at night. You can wear it along with a
cast or it can be a complement to any surgical treatment, and the location is
customized for each individual.
While every
fracture has its own personality, some needing a cast and others needing
surgery, all can benefit from something that improves bone healing. Rozbruch
points out that "electrical stimulation is a painless, noninvasive
modality that helps fractures heal, and we often use this as an adjuvant to our
routine treatment." And anything that shortens the time someone is in a
cast makes everyone - doctors and patients - happier.
Dr. Rock is
the director of the Nonsurgical Foot and Ankle Service at the Hospital for
Special Surgery in New York. Reach him at rock@nypost.com
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