ECP stands for External Counter Pulsations Therapy. It’s a non-surgical therapy to treat patients who are experiencing different types of heart-related problems. The ECP treatment for heart is pain-free and also affordable. Let’s see if there are any side-effects of this therapy and how does it work to cure patients with heart angina.
What is ECP Treatment?
ECP Treatment is not a treatment but a non-invasive therapy invented for patients with heart angina and congestive heart failure problems. The therapy performs on the patients to relieve the pain due to angina. It also helps patients who don’t want to go for expensive heart surgeries.
What happens during the Therapy?
The ECP therapy performs straightforwardly. Since the treatment doesn’t require any type of surgery, the patients need not be worried about the same.
A trained therapist treats will be provided to you throughout the therapy. It starts with wrapping up the muscular area on the calves with padded straps. The other areas to focus on for the therapy are buttocks and thighs. Therapists also use buttocks and thighs to pressurize the muscles and improve the flow of blood.
Pneumatic cuffs are connected through a hose to add more pressure to the selected area. The cuffs inflate and deflate automatically as they are electronically managed by the therapist. The pneumatic cuffs come in different sizes.
Depending on the patient’s condition, the therapy can last up to 35 days. The therapy requires a one-hour session every day or every twice a week, depending on the patient’s situation.
Risk or Side-Effects of ECP Treatment
ECP therapy makes some patients uncomfortable. But most of them prefer to go with this treatment as it is free from pain also affordable. Apparently, there are no major side-effects associated with this therapy. If you are wondering about whether this treatment has any side-effects, then we would give you a simple answer, i.e., no.
However, as per the feedback from the patients who have undergone this treatment, they feel uncomfortable for some time after the therapy due to the uneven flow of blood inside the body.
The therapy is not suitable for everyone. Who should avoid this treatment are listed below:
- Valve-related disease
- Enlarged heart
- Pulmonary hypertension
- Heart rate 120 beats per minute
- Bad history of venous thrombosis
- Irregular heartbeats
- Congenital heart problem
ECP is a safe and effective treatment to cure angina and other heart-related problems without surgery. Due to tight cuffs across the legs area, some people complain about brushing and other minor skin-related issues post-therapy.
Final Thoughts:
ECP is clinically proven to be a safe and pain-free treatment to cure angina. You will be required to undergo a few tests before you start this therapy. Your family physician would guide you more about the treatment and where you can perform it. You will be asked to book an appointment at the center first.
Gain all the information about this treatment, how does it work, what are the parameters to check before this treatment, and everything well before you can visit the physician.