Failure!

Today was my first day of PT and neuromuscular electrical stimulation (NMES). I am sure many of you have heard of electrical stimulation as a means of pain relief. NMES differs in that strong electrical impulses cause muscle spasms and contractions. It isn't the most comfortable forms of therapy/treatment as I recall. I had NMES for my ankle about 3 years ago and it was quite painful. This time the NMES was placed on my thigh to activate the quad muscles. Unfortunately it was unsuccessful. We tried 2 different machines and many levels of intensity. Machine number one caused severe burning and stinging pain (regardless of what intensity level) but didn't effect the muscles. It is very obvious when the therapy is working as the entire leg would twitch. Machine number two didn't have any effect at all. I could barely even feel a tingling sensation when the intensity level reached it's highest. We moved the pads around to different areas and had the same result everytime. Basically my leg muscles have shut down and have turned into mush. Cam jokingly said that I have the weakest quad muscles in the world. It's no wonder my knee is so out of whack! We are going to try again next week (I have 2 appointments) and if we are unable to activate the muscles then we will have to move on to plan B-whatever that may be.