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Sagar Naik, PT
Sagar Naik, PT
By definition, any stimulating device, which delivers electrical currents across the intact surface of the skin, is TENS. TENS is low-intensity, short impulses applied largely for pain relief. TENS is the application of a pulsed rectangular wave current via surface electrodes on the patients skin. Transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS) is a simple, noninvasive analgesic technique that is used extensively in health-care settings by physiotherapists, nurses, and mid-wifes. TENS is mainly used for the symptomatic management of acute and non-malignant chronic pain. However, TENS is also used in palliative care to manage pain caused by metastatic bone disease and neoplasm. It is also claimed that TENS has antiemetic and tissue healing effects although it is used less often for these actions. Small battery operated machines in which circuits modify the batterys output in such a way that it will have a stimulatory effect often generate TENS. Many different types of TENS apparatus are manufactured on the basis of following parameters: Pulse Shape Usually rectangular. Pulse Width Measured in microseconds (s) and is often fixed at 100 s or 200 s. Other units can vary the pulse width from 50 s through to 300 s. Frequency Can be as low as 2 Hz or as high as 600 Hz. A frequency of 150 Hz is commonly used. Intensity Can be varied from 0 to 60 milliamperes (mA). The wide range of variation in pulse width, frequency, and intensity gives great flexibility in terms of the treatments applied to patients with chronic pain syndromes. To be effective it is necessary for TENS to be able to affect conducting afferent nerves. It is thus appropriate to ensure that there is some cutaneous sensation and that this is sufficient to provide protection against the application of excessive current.
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