A medical treatment technique using deep heat generated by electrical current or electromagnetic radiation to treat tissues and muscles.
From Greek 'dia-' (through) + 'thermē' (heat), directly borrowed in the late 19th century for medical applications involving therapeutic heating.
Diathermia was an early medical miracle-cure treatment—doctors would pass electrical currents through patients' bodies to 'heat their tissues,' and amazingly, it sometimes actually worked for pain relief, though usually for reasons we now understand much better.
Complete word intelligence in one call. Free tier — 50 lookups/day.