Electroacupuncture: Negative-Charged Subatomic Particles Pushing the Qi Through the Meridians

If you understand that I = E/R when I = current, E = voltage and R = resistance, you are on your way to understanding that electroacupuncture (EA) is a force multiplier in an acupuncture practice. In 2007, I interviewed William Craig, MD, the inventor of the Craig–PENS technique, which was published in Medical Acupuncture. At the time, I was a struggling physician–medical acupuncturist just trying to make things work—if I needled the correct points and the patient got better that was a great day for me. I was fascinated by the “Craig—PENS” technique and Bill's videos. This was a no-nonsense approach to pain relief, substance “P,” and frequency-dependent “neuro transmitters” stimulated by an electrostimulator, with electrical leads clipping acupuncture needles “positive to negative.” I could relate to this sort of thing better than the invisible Qi. I attended almost every course that Bill taught from the mid-90s to the start of the new millennium. Perhaps the best part was learning from Bill. Unfortunately, Bill passed away many years ago. ¹

Our current special issue dealing with EA features our guest editors: Richard Hobbs, MD, and Gerhard Litscher, MSc, PhD, MDsc. There is a lot to learn. You will be captivated by the Electroacupuncture Roundtable (pp. 281–289) and enlightened about advancements in the field and the theoretical evolution that is occurring. EA remains a stalwart for eliminating acute and chronic pain. To focus on the latest attributes of this fast-evolving field, the members of the roundtable were challenged to address questions about 4 topics: 1.

What is really happening when you make acupuncture points or channels a part of an electrical circuit?

This fresh roundtable is indispensable to our dynamic understanding how EA is an attribute in your clinical practice. Leveraging this knowledge may offer you proactive clinical tactics to help remediate the challenges of everyday pain.

What do you do if you wish to start using EA in your clinic setting and have no idea where to start? Voltage, current, resistance, impedance, and frequency seem complicated, and the placement of needles and cable connections can be somewhat overwhelming. As you read the contents of this special issue, you may even feel the trepidation of learning not only the theory, but the many EA techniques; it can be voluminous. Where should you start? Perhaps you have a colleague and friend who will offer to be your mentor. I glanced on the internet and found EA courses and books geared to clinical practice. If you are like me, you learn better with hands-on and prefer a course rather than turning pages in a book. Once you overcome the inertia of starting, you will be fascinated with the results. Quickly, you will feel very competent to exercise your EA skills. Medical Acupuncture will help you gain forward momentum, and the various articles will add to your knowledge rapidly.

Finally, here are the key points that I have learned by practicing EA over many years. I never turn up the current to make the patient's muscles twitch. I like to avoid the buildup of lactic acid. My favorite frequencies are between 5 and 12 Hz to stimulate long-acting neurotransmitters. If a 30-minute treatment is not sufficient, I will try 45 minutes to 1 hour. If the pain area is located near a bony structure, my montage will include putting the needle as close to the periosteum as possible. This appears to “amplify” the effect of the EA to reduce the pain. Most purchases of an electrostimulator must include a “sweep” function and my lowest frequency will be 5 Hz and my highest frequency will be 20 Hz. The best duration of the sweep is 45 minutes. I do not necessarily have to be on an acupuncture point to make the montage successful for reducing pain. If I have a patient with stubborn spinal-cord pain, I angle the needles on one side of the spine pointing toward the lateral processes and place the connections in a “daisy chain” fashion at 5 Hz and the opposite side of the spinal cord at 12 Hz. Finally, I keep in mind the blunt words that Bill Craig would interrupt me with whenever I asked a question regarding “How to treat…?” He would jump in and say: “Of course, you can!”