The reason the TENS unit is effective for pain management for so many different kinds of pain is that it works by drowning out pain signals to the brain with a flood of other signals from the nerves stimulated through the TENS unit. While a TENS unit seems like a fits-all solution for pain, it can be dangerous for some populations. These include the following:. While the TENS unit is a great way to achieve pain relief, it has its limitations to where you can utilize it.
Since the TENS unit utilizes electrical pulses to stimulate nerves, it can interfere with the normal functioning of important neurological components. Here are two main places to avoid when utilizing a TENS unit :.
Head — The face is a highly compact region of muscles that allows us to display emotions, talk, and eat. Muscle tightness in the face is common and there are many solutions like massaging or vibration therapy that can help with stiff facial muscles.
A TENS unit should not be used on the head or face because of its close proximity to the brain. Throat — The throat can also be a spot of tension but a TENS unit should not be utilized in this region. The throat is a critical airway that needs to stay open and free of spasms. The TENS machine typically causes muscle spasms and makes it not a very good fit as a treatment option. Whether you are looking to improve your pain management routine or are looking for TENS alternatives because you are ineligible; other pain management tools are out there and can also provide lasting relief.
Both of the treatments can be done in addition to TENS unit stimulation. The best order to follow would be to perform the nerve stimulation, apply the pain relief cream, and finish off with putting on compression. This trifecta is a great method to give you the max benefit of each individual component.
In summary, a TENS unit can be as little as a handheld device that stimulates nerves in the skin and muscle to help alleviate pain. You must be logged in to post a comment. TENS units have increased dramatically in popularity over the years. At-home solutions to pain relief are becoming even more prevalent with the current state of the world and the COVID pandemic.
Many telemedicine doctors, chiropractors, and physical therapists are telling their patients to get a TENS unit to help them relieve pain at home without having to risk exposure coming into the office. What is a TENS unit? How do TENS units work?
Orlanda Tarrason Pundit. The mechanisms of action that lead to beneficial therapeutic effects are still unclear, although it is postulated that TENS improves bowel movement via neuromodulation of the extrinsic neural control of the large bowel or modulation of reflexes that inhibit large bowel function. Waclaw Gotschl Pundit. How often should you use TENS machine?
You can begin with one minute therapy session. Repeat for another 15 minutes if needed. Use up to three times per day at a maximum. Christeen Movshovich Teacher. How can I make my tens pads sticky again? Use Electrode Gel and electrolyte spray. Tajinder Alcobre Teacher. What are TENS units good for? A transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation TENS unit is a battery-operated device that some people use to treat pain.
These electrical impulses flood the nervous system, reducing its ability to transmit pain signals to the spinal cord and brain. Fatim Mikhaleiko Teacher. What is the difference between tens and EMS?
Judie Biebl Teacher. Do TENS machines increase blood flow? The possible mechanisms that have been suggested for an increase in blood flow following TENS treatment, include : segmental inhibition of sympathetic vasoconstriction, release of vasodilator peptides from sensory neurons, and the muscle pump action of contracting muscles.
Alvara Neamt Reviewer. Which is the best TENS machine to buy? Ilies Santisteban Reviewer. Does tens work for back pain? There is little research to support how -- or even if -- TENS really works. During a TENS treatment for back pain , electrodes are placed on the skin over an area of pain in the back. This creates electrical impulses that travel along nerve fibers and create a tingling sensation. Asensi Balthes Reviewer. What are the types of tens?
TENS Modes. Jama Loson Supporter. Often, treating the underlying cause eliminates or minimizes the pain. For example: Setting a broken bone in a cast or giving antibiotics for an infected joint helps reduce pain. Some people find pain relief by using a TENS , transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation unit, which brings a gentle electric current when applied to the skins surface, relieves pain. The stimulus is provided by a small hand-held box, and the patient is in complete control after an initial training period.
This technique is widely used in the United States and Europe for localized pains, for postoperative pain, and during labor.
To understand how Tensunits work first there must be an understanding of how pain works. Please read below to get an basic understanding of how pain effects the human body. Dharma Singh, Khalsa, M. If suffering alone, all the world would be wise. To suffering must be added love. I t serves as a protective mechanism insofar as it induces the sufferer to remove or withdraw from the source.
Do you suffer from constant or intermittent pain? Have you been to doctor after doctor, only to receive prescriptive temporary narcotic pain relievers? It is estimated that more than 50 million Americans have some form of persistent or recurrent pain problems. Overall, it causes continued physical and emotional stress on your body.
Use the latest in pain control technology. Our direct discount pricing makes it affordable for you to purchase our TENS which will relieve pain by bringing more blood flow to your painful area. Your doctor or therapist will recommend which one is best for you. To read about the differences between different units please click here. Inside our body is a very complex system of electrical signals that travel through a very complicated pathway system of nerves.
The exact way that this system works still to this day is not completely understood. The basis of our knowledge originates from two different areas of our bodies, the Brain and the Nerve receptors. These two areas are well understood by the medical community. The way that these parts of the body communicate are not completely understood. TENS are designed to interfere with the communication of these two areas of the body to help relive the cycle of pain.
For example: When a cell phone is used to dial a number it immediately transmits sends an airwave path to the dialed number. The reception is either clear, weak, or non-working on the air pathways. The cycle of pain can be interrupted by endorphins, distraction and electrical impulses TENS. The communication of pain to the brain from nerve endings or "cycle of Pain" works through a complex system.
First, the area of pain travels through our body to the spinal cord. It then quickly continues to the spine until it reaches the subconscious part of our brain. Finally, the message is sent to the conscious part of our brain. This is where our brain pick-ups the warning and evaluates the situation and let us know if something is going wrong by giving pain. For example: An abdominal operation would entail making an incision and anesthetizing us so there will no feeling of pain.
Our nerves around that area are now not capable of sending brain signals. The pathway to our brain is not able to send a message from that injured location. Our brain can only receive pain messages from individual routes in our body. This automatic process has been learned by observing newborns. When they feel pain they will withdraw into a fetal position and cry or scream. By the time an infant is one year old its brain will have developed the sensory to tell where specific pain is coming from.
This is a built-in protective circuit. This same research discovered that pain can manifest itself in different ways. There are scenarios where people will experience severe pain in their left arm and their immediate reaction is to assume that they were having a heart attack. The person goes to the closest hospital to be diagnosed by a doctor. Since the nerve pathways are located in the same pathway as for heart the person is confused and assumes that they are having a heart attack.
As mentioned earlier, infants brains learn different pain paths. But since heart attacks, gallbladder problems, and certain other adult illnesses usually occur later in life, our body has not yet been programmed to be able to send an accurate alert pathway message to the brain, telling us where the exact location is.
Researchers now know that once this pathway is open and our brain continues to receive painful messages, other factors come into play.
Our whole pain transmission process becomes super sensitive and the pain continues long after the initial trigger cause. It no longer needs another stimulus. We might describe this as saying our brain has been programmed to have continuous lasting chronic pain.
Research has also discovered that after the initial body injury has supposedly been healed, ten years later the patient can still feel the pain from that same area.
This is why time after time so many people go back to their doctor for another pain evaluation in the same area. But when the doctor reexamines the area he finds nothing wrong. This can lead to a lack of trust and confidence between doctor and patient.
Another major pain discovery has been made about pain pathways. Our brain not only receives pain messages, but it can also send messages through this same pathway to our spinal cord and subconscious part of our brain.
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