T.E.N.S.

A Quick Look at T.E.N.S.

A lot of people in the world are suffering from chronic pain. Chronic pain is debilitating and depressing, and those who are burdened with it are often rendered miserable by the pain.  And if that’s not bad enough, there are even people who, for some reason or another, cannot take oral or parenteral pain medications. For these unfortunate people, T.E.N.S. is a gift from heaven.

What is T.E.N.S.?

T.E.N.S. stands for Transcutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulation. As the name implies, usage of T.E.N.S. requires sending tiny electrical signals to the nerves underneath the skin. It uses conductive pads to send the electrical signals, along with some gels to make the whole process entirely safe. These signals work by blocking the transmission of the pain signals that are being sent to the brain. These electrical signals then send their own message to the brain and tell it to release endorphins for pain relief.

T.E.N.S. is widely used in health care facilities, particularly by physical therapists and occupational therapists. It is mostly recommended for chronic pain. And since it stimulates the body’s natural defenses against pain, it lowers the need and the dependence on pain medications.

However, T.E.N.S. gives relief only while you are using it. When you stop, you’re back to the old routine. It’s a palliative measure, mostly, and will not permanently remove your pain. The good news is that you can use it again after a few hours. You can also use it continuously, but then you’ll have to be vigilant about changing the position of the electrodes so that your skin will be exposed to air from time to time. Health care workers recommend changing the position every 12 hours.

The stronger the electrical signal is, the more endorphins are released. So, basically, you’ll get better pain relief if you set the T.E.N.S. machine to a level strong enough to make your muscles contract.

T.E.N.S And pain relief

T.E.N.S. basically works for any kind of pain except for deep internal pain and cancer pain. It helps for dysmenorrhea, angina, multiple sclerosis, bursitis, arthritis, ankylosing spondylitis, endometriosis, phantom limb pain, raynaud’s syndrome, rheumatism, osteoarthritis, phantom limb pain, strains, fibroids, and other diseases associated with pain.

However, T.E.N.S. is contraindicated for people who have cardiovascular conditions and for people whose diseases have not yet been diagnosed. People with epilepsy are also not advised to undergo T.E.N.S. treatment. Those with pacemakers are not allowed to use T.E.N.S. either since the electrical signals might mess up the pacemaker.