If someone has intense symptoms of anxiety, depression, and insomnia, they are not alone. Millions of Americans battle anxiety, depression, and insomnia. Many treatments for these disorders, such as prescription drugs, can come with unwanted side effects, and even become addictive in some cases. Southern Live Oaks offers Alpha-Stim treatment in Atlanta. Alpha-Stim can be used as an effective low-risk treatment for mood conditions. The treatment has been shown to decrease the intensity of symptoms related to anxiety in a single treatment. The positive effects are even greater with continued use.
Overall, the device works by transmitting an electrical waveform to modulate the cells in someone’s body and brain. This has a calming effect, thus greatly reducing symptoms of depression, anxiety, and insomnia.
What Is Alpha-Stim?
Alpha-Stim is a medical device that uses ear clips to provide Cranial Electrotherapy Stimulation (CES) to help treat anxiety, insomnia, and depression. Alpha-Stim in Atlanta can be used as a primary treatment, or with other medications and treatments.
Since 1992, CES has been approved by the U.S. Food & Drug Administration. This type of therapy is used as a non-invasive treatment. CES has been shown to be safe to use with side effects seen in less than 1% of patients. A 2019 study by the National Institutes of Health suggests that Alpha-Stim can be an effective treatment for mood disorders.
What Mental Health Disorders Does Alpha-Stim Treat?
Alpha-Stim treats anxiety, insomnia, depression, and pain. Millions of Americans suffer from a mood condition. The microcurrent waveform technology offers relief from symptoms of these mood disorders. This is because the waveforms positively impact parts of the brain that produce feel-good chemicals.
How Does Alpha-Stim Make One Feel?
Alpha-Stim can bring about feelings of:
- Calmness
- Relaxation
- Stability
- Reduced irritability
- Improved focus
- Decreased physical pain
These effects can be felt in as little as one treatment in some cases. Repeated treatments have been shown to make the benefits of Alpha-Stim more effective. Effects of Alpha-Stim have even been shown to be permanent in some cases.
How Does Alpha-Stim Work?
Alpha-Stim is a small electronic device that works using cranial electrotherapy. The device delivers small microcurrents through ear clips that attach to the earlobes. The microcurrent is painless and stimulates specific nerve cells in the brain. This helps the brain to regulate and produce more chemicals like serotonin, the body’s feel-good chemical.
While stimulating parts of the brain that produce serotonin, the Alpha-Stim also calms areas of the brain that process fear. This helps to soothe mental health disorders like depression and anxiety.
Alpha-Stim treatment can last between 20 minutes to one hour. Time will vary depending on what your doctor prescribes. In addition, this treatment can be used daily, every other day, or three times a week. This will also vary depending on the severity of the mental health disorder. For more information, watch Southern Live Oak Wellness’ video about Alpha-Stim.
Is Alpha-Stim Safe?
Alpha-Stim is a relatively new treatment for pain as well as symptoms of anxiety, depression, and insomnia. However, it is safe to say that Alpha-Stim is a safe and effective treatment. After all, it poses no risk of any lasting side effects and zero risk of addiction and has been helpful with distressing conditions like hearing problems, insomnia and depression.
Recently, a study appearing in the November-December 2022 edition of Personalized Medicine in Psychiatry concluded that electrotherapy stimulation for the treatment of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) exhibited “an excellent safety profile with no adverse effects.” The study further noted a decrease in PTSD symptoms, insomnia, depression, and other conditions.
Side Effects of Alpha-Stim
Alpha-Stim was designed to create feelings of well-being. The treatment induced these feelings while providing lasting relief from symptoms of various mental health disorders without the risk of negative effects. However, there have been reported side effects related to Alpha-Stim therapy, though they are rare.
Less than 1% of patients experience side effects after an Alpha-Stim session. These side effects include headache and mild skin reaction from the electrodes or ear clips. Also, dizziness is an infrequent side effect of Alpha-Stim, though this tends to happen more often when the setting is turned up too high. These days, built-in safety features ensure the device is always functioning properly.
What to Expect From an Alpha-Stim Session
One of the significant benefits of Alpha-Stim therapy is that there are no “sessions.” Alpha-Stim treatments can be safely administered in the comfort of one’s own home. Also, Alpha-Stim does not require medical supervision. This means it can be used alongside other medications without the risk of harmful drug interactions.
Alpha-Stim patients simply apply the microcurrent electrical therapy (MET) probes to the affected area or apply the cranial electrotherapy stimulation (CES) clips to the earlobes. Probe treatments for pain typically take five minutes or less. Meanwhile, treatments using the CES ear clips last from 20 minutes to one hour.
Best of all, Alpha-Stim patients usually experience relief immediately. And because Alpha-Stim is a gradual treatment, daily sessions are recommended until the patient notices a decline in the frequency and therapy of their symptoms. After that, two to three treatments per week are often enough for continued relief.
Some of the results from Alpha-Stim therapy include:
- Improvement in mood and sleep, as evidenced by a 2017 preliminary study of advanced cancer patients by researchers at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center
- Reduced anxiety and physical pain that lasts for hours or even days
- A decrease in insomnia symptoms generally after four weeks of daily treatment
- Lower rates of depression symptoms after three weeks of daily treatment
Find Alpha-Stim Treatment in Atlanta, GA
If you or a loved one is struggling with the symptoms of chronic pain, anxiety, depression, and insomnia, Southern Live Oak Wellness in Atlanta, Georgia is available to provide compassionate care and cutting-edge therapies, such as Alpha-Stim. Also, we offer comprehensive, individualized treatments in a caring, safe, and supportive environment.
Don’t wait any longer to find the relief and care you or your loved one needs. Contact us today to learn more or to make an appointment.
