RelivaHow we treatTECAR therapy
Treatment
TECAR therapy
A high-frequency current passed through the tissue, which warms it from within. It goes to overloaded muscle across the back, neck and trapezius, and around joints that have gone stiff and guarded.
- The machine
- WINBACK BACK3TXTECAR, Hi-TENS and Hi-EMS in one unit
- In a session
- 20–40 minutesMovement work usually follows
- One session
- 14,000 FtInside a course, after the examination
How the current warms tissue from the inside
TECAR passes a high-frequency current between an electrode the therapist moves across your skin and a return plate resting under the part being treated. The tissue in between resists that current, and the resistance is what produces the heat. So the warmth is generated inside the tissue rather than laid on the surface and left to soak through.
Warm tissue behaves differently under load. It lengthens more readily, and blood flow through it rises for as long as the warmth lasts. That window is the whole point, and it is why the movement work in your course is booked for straight afterwards rather than on a separate day.
CET and RET, and why the therapist swaps between them
Two electrode types, working at two depths.
- CET — capacitive
- Works the tissue nearest the surface: skin, the muscle just under it, and local circulation.
- RET — resistive
- Travels further in, and concentrates where the tissue is denser — tendon, joint capsule, the layer sitting close to bone.
- MIX
- Alternates the two inside a single session, where the problem does not sit at one clean depth.
Which of them you get depends on how deep the trouble is, and the therapist changes it as the session runs rather than picking one at the start.
Three frequencies, and a system that holds the energy steady
The BACK3TX runs at 300, 500 and 1000 kHz. Lower frequencies carry further into tissue; higher ones do more of their work closer in. Intensity is set across three levels — Low, Medium and Boost.
Conditions under the electrode change constantly during a session: tissue resistance shifts as it warms, the electrode size changes when the therapist swaps heads, and the distance to the return plate is never the same twice. A system the manufacturer calls Power-In reads those three things and holds the delivered energy where it was set, so the dose does not drift while the therapist is working.
The same unit carries two more technologies
BACK3TX is not only a TECAR machine, and that is part of why this one was bought rather than a single-purpose device.
- Hi-TENS at 2, 5 and 25 Hz
- Stimulation aimed at the pain itself, static or moving. Used where pain is limiting what the rest of the session can achieve.
- Hi-EMS at 1500 and 4000 Hz
- Stimulation aimed at muscle, including muscle too deep to activate reliably by hand. It is used for muscle activation and recruitment, for functional recovery, and to work on local circulation and drainage, typically where a muscle has stopped taking its share of the load and the ones around it are paying for it.
Neither is sold as its own appointment. They are settings the doctor can call on inside a session when your case asks for them.
Where it goes on the body
- Overloaded muscle. Across the back, neck and trapezius, after months of the same posture or the same training.
- Tissue around a joint. Where movement has become stiff and guarded and the range has quietly shrunk.
- Tendon and the dense layer near bone. Reached through RET rather than from the surface.
- Areas about to be moved. Warmed deliberately so the graded movement in the same visit gets further.
What is driving your pain is worked out at the examination. TECAR is one of the things a course gets built from, alongside shockwave and the movement work — not a treatment you pick off a list and book.
How it feels
Warmth that builds slowly under a smooth electrode moving over your skin, usually with a little oil or cream so it glides. Most people talk through the whole session.
It should never feel hot. The therapist asks as the intensity comes up, and if it goes past comfortable it drops again straight away. There is nothing to gain from pushing the heat, and something to lose.
What the machine can do
- TECAR frequencies
- 300 / 500 / 1000 kHz
- Modes
- CET, RET, MIX
- Intensity
- Low, Medium, Boost
- Hi-TENS
- 2 / 5 / 25 Hz
- Hi-EMS
- 1500 / 4000 Hz
- Output
- 100 W
Those are the ranges the machine works across. Which frequency, which mode, which intensity, how long a session runs and how often you come in are all set by the doctor after examining you, and moved as the course goes on. It is not something to settle from a web page.
What we check before the first session
TECAR puts current through tissue, so a few things have to be established before it is used at all. The reason we ask early is to build your course around them, not to turn you away at the door. Tell us if any of this applies:
- You have a pacemaker or another implanted electronic device
- You are pregnant
- You have metal implants in or near the area to be treated
- There is an infection, an open wound or a skin condition over the area
- You have a tumour, or you are being treated for one
- Sensation in the area is reduced, so you might not feel heat building
- You have a clotting disorder, or you take an anticoagulant
A pacemaker rules TECAR out. Most of the rest change where on the body it can be used, or which electrode, or move your course onto shockwave and guided movement instead. This is the doctor's list to work through with you at the examination, not a form to grade yourself against — if you are unsure about an item, that is the answer to bring.
What it costs
- One session
- 14,000 Ft
- Pain & Movement Check45–60 minutes with a doctor. Where every course starts.
- 42,000 Ft
TECAR sits inside a course rather than being sold on its own or as a pre-paid block. How many visits your case needs and what the whole course comes to are written out at the examination, and you leave with that on paper before anything is booked.
The other device in the room
Shockwave therapy →Questions about TECAR
Is this the same as an ultrasound or a heat pack?
No. A heat pack warms your skin and the warmth soaks inward from there, losing most of itself on the way. TECAR produces the heat inside the tissue itself, through its resistance to a high-frequency current, which is how it reaches layers a pack never gets near.
I have a pacemaker. Can I have TECAR?
No, and it is worth saying so at the first phone call rather than on the day. The doctor then builds your course from the other treatments before you arrive, so the visit is not wasted.
Does it burn?
It should not. Comfortably warm is where TECAR is meant to sit, and the therapist keeps asking as the intensity comes up. If it goes past comfortable, say so and it drops at once.
Why is the movement work booked straight after?
Warm tissue lengthens more easily, and the window does not stay open long. Using it for the graded movement is most of the reason TECAR is in the course at all.
Can I have TECAR with a metal implant?
Sometimes, and it depends on what the implant is, where it sits and which electrode would be used. Bring the details of it to the examination, with the operation report if you have one, and the doctor decides from that.
Ready when you are
Start with the examination.Every course begins there.
One hour with a doctor. What is driving the pain, how far you move before it starts, and the course written out — which programme, how many visits, and what it costs.
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