Low Back Pain: TENS Doesn’t Work
Jan 25th, 2010 | By Body Pain Admin | Category: Back Muscle PainA study recently published in the journal Neurology find that the popular TENS unit, used in pain management has only limited effectiveness in treating lower back pain. In fact, the research suggests that the TENS (transcutaneous electric nerve stimulation) unit should not be used in lower back pain treatment at all.
The same study finds that it may have limited usefulness in the treatment of diabetic nerve pain.
The TENS unit is a pocket sized medical device which works by sending mild electrical current to the nerves. The treatment has been used in a wide variety of pain, but the actual mechanism by which it works is not well known. Scientists believe it works by blocking pain signals to the brain.
If you are using TENS to treat your low back pain, you may want to consult with your doctor about these recent findings and determine if a new course of pain management treatment is needed.
If you are looking for an alternative method of pain management, why not try a pain relief supplement?
This doesn’t surprise me. I think there is some confusion about treating back pain and merely trying to lessen the pain. Treating back pain means finding and fixing the root causes. TENS units don’t accomplish this, in my opinion, but instead mask the pain. I’ve just written a book about actually fixing back pain using an approach that has been very effective over the last few years.
Thank you for your article.
Rick,
Thank you for your comment. There does seem to be some confusion about treating pain versus lessening the pain. I hope that this article helps people using TENS who are wondering why it doesn’t seem to be working.