I have a patient who has numbness in the feet and bottom half of legs. I am treating him with liver blood def points. I was taught the best way to treat this is to find the area where it begins to go numb and surround the leg with needles and use electric stimulation. However this patient has a pacemaker. Do you think it would be okay to use the estim even though he has a pacemaker and if not do you have any other suggestions to treat the numbness?
Comment by Chad J. Dupuis, L.Ac.
Generally you should not use estim on patients with pacemakers as there is a theoretical chance of disrupting the pacemaker. You can use it in certain cases where it is warranted and depending on the location but generally it should be avoided.
Before I can offer some advice, I would like to know why does the patient have numbness? Are they diabetic? Do they have back problems? Also, what other signs and related symptoms do they have for LV Blood deficiency?
Depending on the cause, how you treat the condition will vary considerably.