The Benefits of TENS Therapy for Aches, Pains, and More

If you’ve suffered from chronic or acute pain for any length of time, you know how frustrating it can be to find a sustainable solution. What can you do that doesn’t come with a high risk of addiction and laundry list of harmful interactions?

I was fortunate enough to be born without Fibromyalgia or any other number of genetic, pain inducing ailments, but after having sprained my ankle a few months back, I could have really used a more effective way to treat the pain than taking Ibuprofen every few hours. It’s just not sustainable, and that’s where TENS therapy may be a better solution.

What Exactly Is TENS Therapy?

TENS, also known as transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation, is a method of pain management (and many other things) that uses a mild electrical current to achieve a wide range of physiological effects in the body. The medical industry has been using various forms of TENS therapy for decades, and it’s only in the last few years that this technology has become available to the average person.

If you’ve ever been to physiotherapy, they probably used a TENS machine on you. If you’ve never seen one before, this TENS machine from Chemist Australia is a good example of what’s available on the consumer market.

They often look a bit like this…

TENS has been approved by the FDA, but what’s really important is that it’s non-habit forming. Unlike many pharmaceutical based pain treatments, TENS can simply be discontinued once you’ve fully recovered without any of the nasty side effects and withdrawal symptoms associated with other treatments. There’s no doubt that drugs are useful for a wide range of ailments, but any time I can avoid them, I do my best to do so.

The Benefits Of Tens Treatment

Although TENS therapy is generally associated with treating acute and chronic pain, it can also be used to reduce inflammation, increase range of motion, and even increase strength. As I mentioned earlier, there’s a good reason they’re so common in physiotherapy treatments.

Also, given that TENS devices are generally clipped to a waste-band or belt, they’re highly portable meaning you can use them just about anywhere you like. And because they’re not addictive like many traditional pharmaceuticals, you can simply use TENS as pain levels dictate. Better than carrying around a rattling bottle of pills.

But How Does It Really Work?

TENS devices use a mild electrical current to stimulate nerves, scrambling the body’s pain signals thus reducing the perception of pain by the brain. Many battery operated TENS devices allow the user to modulate things like pulse width, frequency, and intensity to achieve the desired level of pain control, etc.

Essentially you place a series of self-adhesive leads to your body, which are then connected to the TENS device where you can tweak the previously mentioned settings. The devices were designed with ease of use in mind.

But I’ve just given you a broad overview of the technology. If I’ve piqued your interest, I encourage you to do your own research! If you have any questions, I’ll do my best to answer them in the comments below.