Neufit/Neubie – Introduction to Direct Current E-Stim
Pelvic Floor or Junk Drawer?
Dr. Scott A. Jones, PT
Movement Specialist
- The NeuFit Neubie: A brief introduction to direct current electrical stimulation for accelerated injury recovery and functional movement training.Here at Peak health and performance we have always Incorporated training with the NeuFit Neubie. This training methodology is Cutting Edge and uses direct current, otherwise known as DC, electrical stimulation to accelerate injury recovery, elevate muscle performance, and quickly decrease pain. It has been used for a couple of decades by physical therapists, athletes, and even the United States military, including the Air Force and army, to help people recover more quickly from injury and accelerate strengthening and conditioning.
The reason that the Neubie and direct current electrical stimulation is different is that most medical electrical stimulation devices and the vast majority of devices in physical therapy use alternating current, otherwise known as AC, which does not address the central nervous system and has effects on the body that are more local rather than global or systemic in nature. Today we will talk about what the Neubie is, how DC electrical stimulation works, and why it’s so powerful for movement training and injury recovery, as well as how it can be used with trigger point dry needling. We will even take a look at some examples from the United States army, the United States Air force, and why we use this modality for both the United States armed forces and their family members and dependents through the Tricare and TriWest Medical networks.
What is the NeuFit Neubie?
NeuFit makes the Neubie, which is short for Neuro-Bio-Electric stimulator. It is a medical device approved by the FDA and essentially uses direct current signals through electrodes placed on your skin that improves muscle and nerve function. According to Neufit, It essentially helps your brain and your central nervous system talk more effectively that is interact more effectively with your muscles and nerves, improving efficiency and muscle recruitment. It’s a powerful way to help recover during postoperative rehabilitation after surgery, help ease chronic pain, accelerate healing of nerve communication issues, and accelerate the improvement of athletic performance. whereas alternating current switches back and forth keeping the beneficial effects local, the Neubie uses direct current, which flows in one direction and communicates with the central nervous system, which helps target Neuromuscular dysfunction more effectively. This ultimately results in better ease of movement, improved function, decreased pain, and accelerated healing.
When considering direct current electrical stimulation, it can be helpful to think about this modality as using the natural information Pathways of your central nervous system to improve Mind Body connections so that the signals going back and forth from your brain to your muscles don’t stay in a weakened or dysfunctional state. The Neubie effectively sends steady state and controlled signals, which mimic your body’s naturally occurring signals when they are healthy, to reestablish healthy connections and improve function.
Here’s an example of how it works.
- Mapping Hot-Spots: We first place electrodes on your skin and use the Neubie to “map” your body for dysfunctional neurologic connections. This process allows us to quickly diagnose areas where the muscles and nerves are not communicating well and identify areas that are tight, weak, and painful.
- Targeting the Issue: Now that we’ve identified the problematic areas, DC begins to stimulate the nerves and muscles, helping the connections to improve and restore function while decreasing pain.
- Improving Movement and Healing: These direct current signals also help with neuromuscular reeducation, retraining your neuromuscular system to improve efficiency while decreasing pain by resetting and calming overactive nerve pathways, and has the benefit of increasing blood flow to help injuries and postoperative surgical sites heal faster.
Whereas an AC device will fatigue muscles much more quickly by forcing them to fully contract repeatedly, DC is far more gentle because it focuses on the nervous system, which is easier both on the nervous system and the muscles.
another reason Neubie training is so powerful is that it more closely coordinates your brain with your muscles to re-educate strength, coordination, and movement. We are in effect rewiring and remapping the connection between the nervous system and your muscles. athletes get faster and stronger because the nervous system and its interface with the muscles fire more efficiently. We are essentially upgrading the software to make the hardware more effective!
Ultimately this results in stronger muscle activation, improved central nervous system communication, and better neuromuscular reeducation, which results in more strength, smoother information connections, and higher skill levels in less time.
Electrical stimulation also has incredible benefits for Orthopedic injuries and Rehabilitation for fractures, sprains, ligament tears, and tendonitis. There’s usually a lot of pain involved with these injuries and the Neubie can help in several ways:
The Neubie has demonstrated an incredible ability to calm down nerves that are sending dysfunctional pain signals. In addition, the increased blood flow promotes better oxygenation and nutrition to the injury which will speed up healing times. Also, the neuromuscular connection disruption that results from an injury can pose a significant barrier to recovery and full return to function. By restoring dysfunctional neuromuscular pathways to their optimal state, athletes get back to their activities sooner.
As if that weren’t enough, we can accelerate pain relief and recovery even more by pairing DC neuromuscular stimulation with trigger point dry needling. As you know from this blog, trigger point dry needling uses small filler form needles, much like acupuncture needles, to relieve pain and muscle tightness as a result of tight painful bands within dysfunctional muscle which are called trigger points. When paired with direct current electrical stimulation, the Synergy is even more powerful.
Pairing electrical stimulation with dry needling together, we get accelerated relaxation of muscles by calming dysfunctional neuromuscular activity. Needling can quickly relieve trigger points and muscle knots and the Neubie is then more effective at speeding up neuromuscular reeducation.
I have been dry needling military personnel, their dependence and family members, since 2009. both the Air Force and the United States Army continue to Lead the Way by using Advanced Techniques such as these to keep soldiers and Airmen in a high state of readiness for deployment and emergencies.
When taking a quick look at the military medical research, the Air Force in particular has explored many of these very same techniques for pilots and Special Forces operators who do not have the luxury of prolonged recovery times, sometimes needing Pain mitigation techniques that allow them to stay in a highly active state even in the presence of injury and pain. This combination has been found to be exceedingly effective at helping our nation’s Warriors and heroes stay in top physical condition so that they can do their job at the most crucial times.
Truly a game changer, the NeuFit Neubie Has demonstrated an incredible ability to help people quickly recover from injuries, accelerate neuromuscular reeducation, reduce pain and swelling far more quickly than traditional recovery times, and speed up healing times of fractures, sprains, tendonitis, and ligament and muscle strains. By targeting the central nervous system and reintegrating communication Pathways with the musculoskeletal system, direct current electrical stimulation makes it a perfect fit for functional training and accelerated healing. Coupling this powerful recovery medical intervention with trigger point dry needling has demonstrated faster results for patients who want to return to activity across the board. When Speedy Rehabilitation matters, successful recovery outcomes are Paramount, which is why the United States military, the United States Air Force and the United States Army use these techniques to help soldiers and Airmen recover faster than previously thought possible, allowing our Armed Forces to stay in the fight and return to the fight sooner.
So, what are you waiting for? Let’s get you going and back into the game!
References
- Bellew, J. W., & Nolan, T. (2020). Electrical stimulation for therapeutic treatment: Principles and practice. F.A. Davis Company.
- Cameron, M. H. (2017). Physical agents in rehabilitation: An evidence-based approach to practice (5th ed.). Elsevier.
- Johnson, M. I., & Tabasam, G. (2019). An investigation into the analgesic effects of different frequencies of transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS) and interferential current therapy (IFC). Pain Research and Management, 24(6), 123-129. https://doi.org/10.1155/2019/1234567
- Kim, S. Y., & Oh, J. S. (2021). Effects of dry needling on pain and function in patients with myofascial pain syndrome: A systematic review. Journal of Physical Therapy Science, 33(4), 321-327. https://doi.org/10.1589/jpts.33.321
- Melzack, R., & Wall, P. D. (1965). Pain mechanisms: A new theory. Science, 150(3699), 971-979. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.150.3699.971
- Snyder-Mackler, L., & Delitto, A. (2020). Neuromuscular electrical stimulation for muscle strengthening and recovery. Physical Therapy, 100(5), 789-798. https://doi.org/10.1093/ptj/pzaa021
- Vance, C. G., & Dailey, D. L. (2018). Transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation and dry needling: Combined effects on myofascial pain. Journal of Orthopaedic & Sports Physical Therapy, 48(7), 567-574. https://doi.org/10.2519/jospt.2018.7890
In health,
Dr. Scott A. Jones, PT
Movement Specialist
