Center for Health and Healing

<html><head> <title>The Center for Health & Healing</title> <link rel=stylesheet href="../chhstyle.css" type="text/css"> <meta name="keywords" content="TENS,transcutaneous electric nerve stimulation,electroanalgesia,pain management"> <script language="JavaScript">  </script> </head> <body bgcolor="#ffffff" leftmargin="0" topmargin="0" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0"> <base target="_top"> <a name="head"></a> <table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="98%"> <tr> <td width="149" bgcolor="#ffffff"><img src="../images/spacer.gif" width="149" height="1" border="0" alt=""></td> <td width="95%" bgcolor="#95a920"><img src="../images/spacer.gif" width="500" height="1" border="0" alt=""></td> <td width="5%" bgcolor="#95a920"><img src="../images/spacer.gif" width="60" height="1" border="0" alt=""></td> </tr> <tr> <td width="149" bgcolor="#ffffff" align="left" valign="top"><a name="top"></a><img src="../images/spacer.gif" width="149" height="24" border="0" alt=""></td> <td> <table width="100%" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="padding:0px 0px 0px 5px"> <tr> <td bgcolor="#95a920" align="left" valign="top"><img src="../images/spacer.gif" width="274" height="1" border="0" alt=""></td> <td align="right"><img src="../images/spacer.gif" width="123" height="1" border="0" alt=""></td> </tr>  <tr> <td bgcolor="#95a920" width="274" align="left" valign="top" class="title">Complementary / Alternative Therapies</td> <td align="right">  <form name="form1" method="post" action=""> <select name="menu1" onChange="MM_jumpMenu('top',this,0)"> <option value="#" selected="selected">Select One</option> <option value='gen_pract.asp'>General</option> <option value='accu_pract.asp'>Acupuncture</option> <option value='acupress_pract.asp'>Acupressure/Shiatsu</option> <option value='alexander_pract.asp'>Alexander Technique</option> <option value='aroma_pract.asp'>Aromatherapy</option> <option value='art_pract.asp'>Art Therapy</option> <option value='bio_pract.asp'>Biofeedback</option> <option value='chiro_pract.asp'>Chiropractic</option> <option value='cog_pract.asp'>Cognitive Behavioral Therapy</option> <option value='cranio_pract.asp'>Cranial Therapy</option> <option value='dance_pract.asp'>Dance Therapy</option> <option value='exercise_pract.asp'>Exercise</option> <option value='feldenkrais_pract.asp'>Feldenkrais Method</option> <option value='herbal_pract.asp'>Herbal Medicine</option> <option value='homeo_pract.asp'>Homeopathy</option> <option value='hypnosis_pract.asp'>Hypnosis</option> <option value='imagery_pract.asp'>Imagery</option> <option value='massage_pract.asp'>Massage Therapy</option> <option value='meditation_pract.asp'>Meditation/Relaxation</option> <option value='music_pract.asp'>Music Therapy</option> <option value='nutrition_pract.asp'>Nutrition/Supplementation</option> <option value='osteo_pract.asp'>Osteopathy</option> <option value='prayer_pract.asp'>Prayer</option> <option value='xigong_pract.asp'>Qigong</option> <option value='reiki_pract.asp'>Reiki</option> <option value='rolfing_pract.asp'>Rolfing</option> <option value='taichi_pract.asp'>Tai Chi</option> <option value='tens_pract.asp'>TENS</option> <option value='therap_pract.asp'>Therapeutic Touch</option> <option value='trager_pract.asp'>Trager Approach</option> <option value='yoga_pract.asp'>Yoga</option> </select> </form> </td> </tr> </table> </td> <td> </td> </tr>  <tr> <td valign="top" width="149" bgcolor="#ffffff"> <table width="120" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" border="0" style="padding: 0px 0px 0px 5px;"> <tr> <td> <p><a class="leftNavOff" href="tens_pract.asp">Practitioner Statement</a></p> <p><a class="leftNavOn" href="tens_history.asp">History & Philosophy</a></p> <p><a class="leftNavOff" href="tens_treatment.asp">Treatment Approaches</a></p> <p><a class="leftNavOff" href="tens_how.asp">How it works & when to use it</a></p> <p><a class="leftNavOff" href="tens_what.asp">What you need to know about treatment</a></p> <p><a class="leftNavOff" href="tens_training.asp">Training & Licensing</a></p> </td> </tr> </table> </td> <td valign="top" bgcolor="#ffffff">  <table width="100%" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" border="0"> <tr> <td nowrap="nowrap" style="padding: 0px 0px 5px 0px;"> <p class="headline"><br> TENS  History & Philosophy</p> </td> <td width="100%"><img src="../images/spacer.gif" width="1" height="1" border="0" alt=""></td> </tr> <tr> <td bgcolor="95a920"><img src="../images/spacer.gif" width="1" height="1" border="0" alt=""></td> <td width="100%" bgcolor="ffffff" height="1"><img src="../images/spacer.gif" width="1" height="1" border="0" alt=""></td> </tr> <tr> <td bgcolor="ffffff" colspan="2"><img src="../images/spacer.gif" width="1" height="10" border="0" alt=""></td> </tr> </table>  <table width="100%" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" border="0"> <tr> <td class='content'> <p>Countless people suffer from pain, sometimes intermittent and injury-related, sometimes chronic. TENS provides an alternative or adjunct to resources for pain management like medication, surgery, manual therapies and counseling. Transcutaneous Electric Nerve Stimulation utilizes the application of low voltage electric current, which can be regulated in intensity, to a localized area. This electrical current stimulates the nerves in the area about 1-2 inches under the skin. TENS is one of the most commonly used types of electroanalgesia (electronic stimulation for pain management).</p> <p>The first recorded use of electroanalgesia for clinical practice dates to about 46 AD, when the Roman physician Scribonus Largus made use of the electrical discharge from torpedo fish for relief from headaches and gout. Even earlier, it is believed Egyptians used them for pain. In 1780, Galvani, an Italian professor of anatomy, observed that the muscles of frogs twitch when stimulated by electricity. Benjamin Franklin helped clarify many of the superstitions associated with electricity, and by doing so, paved the way for scientific investigation into its healing benefits. In the mid-1800s, it was Guillaume Benjamin Amand Duchenne of Boulogne who found he could use moistened surface electrodes to admit electricity into the body in a less painful manner, a basis for the much later development of TENS therapy. During World War I, casualties were being treated with different kinds of currents. But it was Melzack and Walls gate control theory of pain in the 1960s which confirmed the use of electronic stimulation for pain management. Their work showed non-painful stimulation of the peripheral nervous system could interfere with the transmission of pain sensations. Transcutaneous (through the skin surface) electric nerve stimulation became one of medicines tools.</p> <p>One of the major advantages of the use of TENS for pain control is that, unlike drugs, there is no addictive potential. There are none of the side effects often associated with substances like NSAIDS (non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs) and opiates, making TENS an especially viable choice with the elderly who are often more sensitive to adverse drug reactions. Athletes are also prime candidates for TENS, being able to use its healing abilities in competitions where drug use is outlawed. It has also been shown to be effective in a wide range of situations, including but not limited to back pain, arthritis, shoulder pain, sleeplessness, tennis elbow, neuralgia, migraines, muscle stress, menstrual pain, bladder incontinence, and postoperative pain.</p> <p>With TENS, electric energy is transmitted from an external stimulator unit to the peripheral nervous system via electrodes on a conductive gel pad. The units are capable of transmitting variable strengths of stimuli, pulse rates and pulse widths. The success of TENS therapy depends on the pain condition being treated. It has shown high effectiveness in anginal pain resulting from ischemic heart disease (75%), pain caused by peripheral nerve damage (53%), and musculoskeletal pain due to mechanical degenerative causes (69%). Other studies report that about 50-80% of patients using TENS short-term and 6-44% using it long-term benefit from chronic pain relief. While success rates may be initially high, however, they appear to decline after several months of treatment with TENS. The amount of time for relief of pain and its duration will vary, as will the effectiveness in acute versus chronic pain management. </p> </p> <a href='#head' target='_self' class='disclaimer'>Top</a> <p class="timestamp">Content last modified on Mar 27, 2003</p> </td> </tr> </table> </td> <td valign="top" bgcolor="#ffffff"><img src="../images/bg_curve.gif" width="60" height="300" align="right" border="0" vspace="0" hspace="0"></td> </tr> <tr> <td bgcolor="#ffffff"><img src="../images/spacer.gif" width="1" height="1" border="0" alt=""></td> <td bgcolor="#ffffff"><img src="../images/spacer.gif" width="1" height="1" border="0" alt=""></td> <td bgcolor="#ffffff"><img src="../images/spacer.gif" width="1" height="200" border="0" alt=""></td> </tr>  <tr> <td width="149" bgcolor="ffffff"> </td> <td colspan="2" bgcolor="ffffff"> <p> </p> <p class="copyright">©2002 Center for Health and Healing</p> </td> </tr> </table> </body> </html>