ABSTRACT
Those who have been shocked by lightning, an electric fence, or a household socket know that numbness occurs in the shocked body part(s), resulting from interruption of pain and sensory signals to the brain. That nerve blocks can be done with electricity is scientifically established. Performing nerve blocks with electricity is well enough accepted that two medical dictionaries describe nerve blocks as follows:
Gould’s (Gennaro et al. 1984): “nerve block. The interruption of the passage of impulses through a nerve, as by chemical, mechanical, or electrical [italic added] means.”
Taber’s (Thomas, 1997): “nerve block. The induction of regional anesthesia by preventing sensory nerve impulses from reaching the central nervous system.
