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| Home How does TENS work? Choosing a machine Conditions eased by TENS Electrode positions FAQ's Basic science of TENS Research Links | What is TENS?Transcutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulation (TENS) is a mouthful to say! The small currents stimulate (or excite) nerves which in a clever and slightly complicated fashion both calm the pain nerve fibres directly, stop the pain messages reaching the brain, help your body produce it’s own pain killers and stimulate various anti-inflammatory substances which encourage your body’s healing processes. All from a small machine and some sticky pads. For more details please look at - how does TENS work There are different types of TENS and most machines will do all of them. Briefly they are conventional TENS, ‘acupuncture like’ TENS and modulated TENS which varies the settings automatically. To use a TENS machine the electrodes are usually placed over your painful area to begin with. The current (also called the intensity) is slowly increased until you feel a mild tingling sensation. It’s just like turning up the volume on the television. Starts off silent, then you hear it fine but go too high and your ears hurt! You don’t need very high currents for TENS to work. It shouldn’t feel uncomfortable, if it does reduce the current a bit. Leave it going for 20 – 30 mins and finish. That will give you pain relief for up to 10 – 12 hours. There is a huge amount of evidence that TENS works and it is widely used in hospitals, delivery suites and labour wards, pain clinics and surgeries. It is safe, easy to use, doesn’t interfere with any drugs you are taking and has few side effects.
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