Aromacaring Fact sheet                                                 TENS
What is TENS?  Transcutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulation is a battery powered electrical unit which uses electrodes in the form of sticky patches placed onto the skin to deliver electrical impulses to the nerve fibres which lie underneath the skin surface. It is used to provide pain relief by blocking pain signals to the brain via the spinal cord and peripheral nervous system, and also stimulates the production of endorphins, the body's own pain relieving mechanism Usually the electrodes are placed around the pain area or on acupressure points. A slight tingling sensation will be felt during treatment which is not painful.
What can TENS be used for?  TENS can be used to treat most types of pain where the cause has been determined including: · Chronic pain (long term conditions) · Arthritis · back pain · bruising · calf strain · dead Leg · fibrositis · finger Pain · headaches · migraines · knee Pain · lumbago · muscle stress · neck pain · neuralgia · osteoarthritis · period pains · post herpatic neuralgia (shingles) · pregnancy/labour pains · rheumatism · sciatica· shoulder pain · sleeplessness · spondylosis (spinal disc problems) · sports injuries · tennis elbow · wrist pain  The effects are cumulative and also encourage the release of the body's own pain relieving responses (endorphins). If you find the treatment particularly effective, you may wish to consider purchasing a TENS unity for yourself.	Are there any side effects?  Unlike medication, TENS is safe and does not produce side effects such as nausea or drowsiness. It can be administered while going about your normal activities and is not addictive. Occasionally the self-adhesive electrode patch sites can become irritated due to the adhesive but this can be overcome by using a different brand of patch. When should TENS not be used?  With pacemakers Around the heart or neck With recent injury or trauma When the underlying cause of pain has not been established
What happens during a treatment?  Treatments will last between 20 minutes to an hour. It involves the therapist asking questions to determine the source of pain before 2 - 4 small sticky pads are applied to the pain area or the surrounding site. The pads may have to be repositioned occasionally to find the best site to provide relief. Your therapist may want to find the most appropriate site for the pads by testing the area first with a smaller acupressure unit which works in the same way as the pads but can be moved around the area in order to find the best pain-relieving response. The therapist then connects the patches to a small battery-powered unit which when switched on produces a small electrical current through the tissues underlying the skin. At first you will feel nothing, then as the frequency is turned up, you should begin to feel a tingling or numbing sensation. The tingling sensation is the electrical stimuli designed to interrupt the pain signal to the brain in the same way that rubbing an injury can provide some relief. It is important to realise that total pain relief may not be achieved, and you may not experience relief after the first treatment. If the first treatment does not work, subsequent treatments or repositioning the pads will help. It may take some time to find the right area to treat, but once the pads are in the right place, relief is found in 80-90% of cases. TENS is safe, painless, and up to 90% effective in relieving chronic pain conditions Jane Ellwood Dip(HE) RNLD MIFPA Email jane@aromacaring.co.uk www.aromacaring.co.uk

NOTE:  Therapists should not be offering TENS treatments unless they are qualified and competent to do so

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