Role Of Tens Machines In Relieving Pain

By Author: Salvatore Andrea
Total Articles: 6261
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Pain is an inevitable part of life. Every person suffers from pain in one form or another. The suffering is unbearable sometimes and the patient is rendered invalid due to pain. There are various reasons for the inducement of pain and the treatment is as varied as the cause. Using tens machine is one of the methods by which pain is treated.

Any mild pain that is caused due to external injuries is treated with the help of painkillers. Painkillers cannot be taken regularly as they have plenty of undesirable side effects. It also poses the threat of getting addicted to painkillers. The other option available is surgery, which is opted only in certain cases. Apart from these two options, the third option available is Transcutaneous Electrical nerve stimulation or Tens. The concept of using electrical stimulation for pain killing took birth in 63 AD when Scribonius Largus found that standing on an electrical fish gave relief from pain. This basic concept evolved a number times, giving rise to the modern Tens Machine.

The Tens Machines apply current ...
... transcutaneously which excites the nerves thus blocking the sensation of the pain. There are many companies manufacturing tens machines and number of brands are available in the market. This method is used to control all types of pains but they have no effect on labor pain and postoperative pain. This is a non-invasive method of relieving the pain, and is considerable lower in risk. Though this method helps in controlling pain, there are many restrictions for putting it into use. They are not advisable to be used over the eyes, on broken skin areas, over the tumor or directly in the spinal column, as these may prove dangerous. In addition, persons having any pre-existing diseases may have to be careful while using the Tens machine.