Can muscle stimulation be used immediately after surgery?

I have already written many articles about the excellent effects of electrotherapy. But it matters what, for what and when you apply it. For example, I do not recommend using muscle stimulation (EMS) in the first days after an accident or surgery! Another electrotherapy treatment, microcurrent (MENS, MCR), however, can be started even on the day of surgery. How is that?

Muscle stimulation is an excellent method for recovering muscle strength and muscle mass. It can already play a major role in preoperative preparation. The more muscle mass you have before surgery, the less time you will need for full recovery. That is why it is important to strengthen your muscles with muscle stimulation in the weeks before surgery. Applied after surgery or serious injury, it helps you return to normal life and sports.

In many cases, for example after a severe illness or surgery, weight training and even bodyweight exercises are not permitted. A muscle stimulator, however, does not create movement in the joint, so it can still be usable in such situations. I firmly believe that (in addition to physical training) this is the most effective method to improve the condition of a muscle group. It aids healing and speeds up recovery.

If, however, you want to use it immediately after surgery, first read this article.

Can muscle stimulation pose a danger after surgery?

In the few days following a major operation or severe injury, muscle stimulation training may be contraindicated. This can apply not only to the muscles in the affected area but to any part of the body.

Properly performed muscle stimulation training places significant demands on the treated muscles and, through them, on your body. Under the influence of the electrical signals sent by the electrostimulator, muscle fibers contract again and again. This is precisely why stimulation works to increase strength and muscle mass.

The higher the treatment intensity, the greater the "aggression against the muscle." The same happens during gym training. You train, you recover and your muscles adapt to the training level.

In response to training stimuli changes occur in the muscle. Metabolites accumulate, nutrient and energy stores are depleted. Muscle fibers tear.

Restoration of these changes is regeneration, which takes place during rest after training.

Immune system

The immune system takes part in post-exercise regeneration. After surgery, however, the immune system is less efficient because it has many "tasks" to perform.

• It tries to restore the tissues of the operated area.
• It attempts to replace the lost blood.
• It works to heal as quickly as possible.
• It fights bacteria that get into the wound to prevent infection.

To regenerate the changes caused by muscle stimulation, your body will reallocate some of the immune system's activity from the surgical area to the stimulated muscles. If the healing of the surgical site proceeds with less force as a result, you may risk slowing or compromising recovery.

Muscle training (even if performed on muscles far from the surgery site, on otherwise healthy muscles) can affect the injured limb or the operated area (which is precisely the weakest part of the body at that time).

For this reason, after surgery or a severe limb injury, stimulation training anywhere on the body can be completely contraindicated.

You need to be 100% healthy!

Electrostimulation training requires you to be 100% healthy.

If you are not healthy, it is not advisable to perform any training — neither conventional nor with a stimulator.

If you have a fever or a cold, your defenses are already low and training can do more harm than good. When your body is fighting an illness, it cannot devote enough resources to regenerate the changes caused by training. In fact, by training you divert part of your immune system's capacity away from fighting the infection, making you heal more slowly. The cold itself exists because your defenses are low in the first place.

After surgery your immune system is fighting to restore your health. It is therefore not advisable to divert healing resources to muscle stimulation treatments.

It may cause collateral damage!

Muscle contractions triggered by an electrostimulator often involve other muscles as well. For example, when training the quadriceps, the psoas may also become activated.

If, for instance, you recently had an abdominal surgery (inguinal hernia) and you want to train your quadriceps so it does not lose strength, but you place the electrodes incorrectly, not only the thigh muscle but also the psoas can be activated.

Contractions of the psoas can then pull on the muscles around the surgical area. This can cause tearing in the muscles affected by the surgery.

When should you use a muscle stimulator?

If you have undergone surgery, a muscle stimulator can help you avoid muscle loss. However, only start treatment after you have discussed it with your treating physician. If they give permission, muscle stimulation programs can help you achieve good muscle tone in a few weeks. After surgery or injury, a minimum of 7–10 days is required before starting intensive muscle stimulation treatments.

Which electrical treatment can speed up healing?

Compared to muscle stimulation, other electrotherapy treatments — especially microcurrent — support and accelerate the healing processes.

Microcurrent stimulation (MENS, MCR treatments) can be applied immediately after surgery without any risk!

It speeds up and supports the healing processes of the operated area (both on the skin and in deeper tissues). Microcurrent treatment has no negative effects!

Of course you can use this only with a device that has microcurrent treatment programs. Click here to find such devices.

Article recommendation: Microcurrent – pain relief (MENS) and healing (MCR) effects

In this article you can read about how microcurrent helps relieve post-surgical pain and supports tissue regeneration and injury healing.

Read the article! →