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Frequently Asked Questions

Acute and chronic pain

Pain. You feel it coming on. You steel yourself.  Your muscles tighten and the painful cycle begins again.

Everyone knows what pain is. And too many know the agony of living with pain — agony that can disrupt your professional and personal life.

Pain — either chronic or recurring acute pain - arises from a variety of conditions. Therapy directed at controlling pain usually includes medication to relieve inflammation or to block pain.

Unfortunately, many therapeutic procedures only block the pain temporarily, and the success of drug therapies may be limited by their cyclical effects and dosage requirements, not to mention their side effects.

TENS:

Drug-free Rx at your fingertips

Imagine having at your fingertips a drug-free, medically accepted treatment that interrupts the cycle of your pain long enough to let your body heal.

Such a treatment option exists and is available to you.

Transcutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulation (TENS) therapy blocks pain, reduces muscle guarding and promotes circulation and metabolic clearing. The analgesia — or pain relief-produced by TENS is noninvasive: you ingest no drugs and undergo no surgery. Most importantly, you retain control of the treatment.

Sounds good.

But how does TENS work?

TENS works by passing a gentle current through your skin to your sensory nerves giving you the sensation similar to when your foot falls asleep. As the current passes through your skin and stimulates your nerve pathway, the signal carrying the pain message to your brain is blocked or altered. Pain relief following TENS treatment may last up to several hours.

Working with your clinician, you decide how much stimulation helps you achieve relief from your pain. By adjusting the intensity of the electrical impulse, its length and its frequency, you and your clinician take an active part in improving your sense of well-being.

Is TENS effective?

TENS Therapy is effective in a wide variety of chronic and acute pain cases. These include:

TENS therapy successfully provides relief for most acute pain patients. It also reduces pain in many chronic pain patients — an excellent success rate, since chronic pain sufferers typically undergo a variety of other pain treatment with little or no success prior to TENS treatment.

First used in the treatment of chronic pain, TENS has increasingly gained acceptance as an analgesic for acute post-operative pain. More recently, TENS has been used in the early management of pain as a useful adjunct to other pain-management methods. TENS is most successful when used as part of a comprehensive pain management program.

Is TENS complicated?

The answer is NO. The TENS system consists of three components:

  1. A battery-powered stimulator about the size of a cell phone
  2. Electrodes that adhere to your skin
  3. Lead wires that connect the stimulator to the electrodes.


TENS’ success depends on proper electrode placement and contact, and a properly adjusted stimulation setting. It also depends on your willing and active participation.

Controls on the stimulator allow you to adjust the pulse width and amplitude of each impulse. Your clinician will initially set these for you. Variations of stimulation modes are possible, enabling you and your clinician to tailor the most effective — and comfortable — TENS therapy for your relief of pain.

Early use suggest early benefits

Use TENS early in your treatment of pain, before pain becomes debilitating. TENS therapy can enhance and extend the effects of other therapies. The analgesic effects of TENS treatment often permits you to follow a more aggressive treatment and exercise program. In later stages of therapy, TENS actually increases your tolerance for normal daily activities.

TENS is beneficial as a pain inhibitor during therapeutic procedures and for on—going pain management between sessions. And its use continues to grow. In fact, health professionals who specialize in the treatment of pain, such as sports medicine, orthopedists, anesthesiologists, pain management physicians and physical therapists, use TENS as a primary modality for relief.

Tell me more

TENS is a prescription device available through most pain centers, hospital-based and private practice physical therapists, and many physicians. New patients who are trained to use the device and undergo an appropriate evaluation period to determine TENS effectiveness may rent or purchase a unit. TENS therapy is reimbursed by most medical plans and health care coverages.

“How can I try a TENS unit?"

Have your physician complete this prescription and fax or mail it to our office. After we receive your prescription, we will work with your physician and insurance company and you to begin your TENS trial.

Choosing your TENS technology

Medical Science Products, Inc., has been a leader in TENS systems since 1985. The MSP-TENS is safe and easy to use and we bill most insurance plans plus we can help educate you on the proper use of your TENS unit. We are your source for any replacement electrodes, batteries, supplies and any warranty issues. For additional TENS information, contact your clinician, physician or write to:

Medical Science Products, Inc.
517 Elm Ridge Ave. • PO Box 381
Canal Fulton, Ohio 44614
800-456-1971