TENS units- anybody here ever used one before? - Health, Fitness ...

my recent accident introduced me to the fascinating world of Transcutaneous Electronic Nerve Stimulation, or TENS for short. before i borrowed a unit from a family friend, i knew absolutely nothing about them other than the most basic theory that external electrical pulses transmitted through the skin over a painful area seemed to block out much pain, through either-

1] generation of endorphins,
2]overloading the "gate" nerves so that pain impulses are headed off at the pass,
3]the buzzing stimulation of TENS distracts the conscious mind from pain feelings, or
4] some combination of the aforementioned 3 theories.

so after placing the electrode pads and turning the unit on, i experimented with the various preset programs or algorithms [sometimes called "modulations"] - some of 'em pulsed the power on and off, some alternated stimulation on channels A and B, some switched back and forth between various pulse rates/pulse widths and pulse lengths [measured in microseconds], and others were mixtures of the aforementioned schemes. i found that to avoid "nervous accomodation" [IOW the nervous system gets used to a certain amount or kind of stimulation and learns to ignore it as "background noise" and/or becomes more efficient at transmitting pain signals] i had to switch often between different types of stimulation. also, i learned that too high a pulse rate and/or pulse width [higher than 100 pulses per second/200 microseconds pulse width] caused a "electrical shock/contact pressure" type of sensation and/or caused my muscles to twitch. so i settled on a variable pulse rate between 50 and 100 pulses per second, if i went appreciably below 50 it felt too "staccato" to me, like something was drumming a rhymic tattoo into my arm. for physical/occupational therapy to be successfully numbed sufficient to take the harsh edge off of it, i turned the pulse rate up to 90 p.p.s. and 6 microvolts. for resting pain relief, i turn the pulse rate down to 50 or 60 p.p.s. @ 4 microvolts but leave the pulse width at between 150 and 200 microseconds, anything less and the effect loses potency [for me at least].

more tips and tricks-
*the most common electrode pads are reusable pre-gelled pads whose life expectancy can be greatly increased by taking care to gently peel the pads from their plastic backing sheet each time they are reused, and from your skin after use- WET the gel side of the pads over their whole surface before replacing the pads on their backing sheet. ALSO [important point!] WIPE your pad site [anatomical location of pads on body] with alcohol swabs before placing pads, because skin oils drastically reduce the useful life of the pregelled electrode pads!

*for orthopedic analgesic applications, use both channels [A & B], with each channel on either side of the painful area per side of limb- place the electrode pads as close to the painful area as possible while on the boundaries of said painful area. IOW, the red leads will be either at the dorsal or ventral ends of the painful limb area, while the black leads will be at the proximal or distal ends. as a crude ASCII description of an electrical circuit, the proper wiring diagram will look something like RED=BLACK or BLACK=RED, on the top and bottom surface of your limb. with my own example of my elbow/upper forearm, i put both red leads on either side of my middle forearm, while the black leads are on either side of my bicep. this allows the microcurrent to flow through the painful area rather than just spotlight either side of my arm.

*i find that TENS units which are powered by rechargable 9 volt nickel-metal-hydride [NiMH] batteries are the best combo of economical and easy to replace- no messing with up to 4 AA batteries like in some TENS units. get at least 2 replacement 9V batteries and a charger, so you won't have to be pumping batteries into your TENS like coins into a slot machine.

*not all TENS units are equal- some are "medical grade" and have much improved internal circuitry [much more efficient with battery power] than others- i borrowed an EMPI Epix VT [a medical grade unit] and its rechargable NiMH 9V battery would last about 70 hours per charge- a TENS 7000 unit i bought, OTOH, only lasted about 12 hours between charges with the same NiMH battery. the medical grade units cost a few hundred dollars more, on average, and also require a doctor's prescription to obtain. the EMPI Epix VT is the best unit out there that i have found, and if you can get one off of ebay you have a winner. the TENS 7000 that i bought, is good enough but requires lots of batteries, as it has roughly 1/6 the battery life. part of the difference, i believe, is the 24 gauge lead wiring the TENS 7000 uses, compared with the stout 18 gauge wiring the EMPI unit uses- at those tiny microvolt power levels, the quality of insulated lead wires matters greatly. i may try to find some 16 gauge lead wire someplace to see if i can get better battery life out of my TENS 7000.

now, will anybody else here on WP tell me their TENS stories?

Source: http://www.wrongplanet.net/postt212365.html

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