Plural of electrotherapy; multiple treatments that use electrical currents to heal injuries or reduce pain in the body.
From electro- (from Greek elektron, 'amber') + therapies (from Greek therapeia, 'healing'). Combined in the 19th century when scientists discovered electricity could stimulate muscles and nerves for medical benefit.
Early doctors didn't fully understand why electrical stimulation worked, but it became wildly popular in the Victorian era—patients would pay good money to sit in chairs that shocked them, and many claimed miraculous cures (some real, some just placebo power).
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