TENS for Pain Relief

Ever consider using electricity to relieve pain? Electricity can help relieve pain as a type of therapy for people suffering from many types of pain inducing injuries. Transcutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulation (TENS) uses electric frequencies to send non-painful signals through the injured site and into the nervous system. With non-pain signals traveling into the nervous system, the regular pain signals are prevented from reaching the brain. This allows users of TENS to feel temporary pain relief from their injuries.

TENS is a type of method that can be used on pain ranging from acute to more severe chronic pain. The most common injuries that respond well to TENS is neck pain, lower back pain, diabetic nerve pain and fibromyalgia pain. However, TENS is not only beneficial to just these types of injuries. As an example, acute foot pain can be treated with TENS. This means that you don’t have to just use this treatment on chronic pain. TENS can be used to treat pain that is less severe.

When using TENS therapy, you should expect to feel a tingling feeling. If you are worried about anything stronger than a tingling feeling, you have nothing to fear. The tingling feeling is more of a relaxing feel to calm your nervous system from receiving pain. A TENS treatment uses small sticky pads and a unit that controls the electric frequencies. The small pads contain electrodes and are placed over the injured area. These pads are then connected to a hand-held controller unit that has a variety of options to control the pain. Options range from low frequency to high frequency depending on how much pain the patient is in.

TENS devices are very portable and are commonly used at the clinic and at home. Do note that TENS units are only available with a prescription, so please consult with your healthcare provider before using this treatment. Also, be aware that using TENS will only mask the pain. Users will experience temporary relief, but the pain can come back once the TENS treatment is over.

If you want to know more about TENS therapy, click here.

Article written by William Graves.