The Counterirritant Effects
A counter-irritant effect is produced, also, with the electrode held above the skin at the proper distance to keep a shower of sparks passing to it. These sparks are not appre¬ciably painful if the electrode is kept moving above the surface being treated, but become almost unbearable if showered stead¬ily upon it.
For cavity work, where the electrode comes in contact with the mucous membrane, considerable care is necessary to pre¬vent blistering. However, in qualified hands, this possibility need not be feared. The breaking, or rather exploding, of electrodes while in use is possible only when they are of the vacuum or clear-glass kind. If this accident should occur while the electrode is in some cavity, there might be serious consequences in more ways than one, but it cannot happen with the metal-lined electrodes.