Advice on TENS machine

[Margot89]

Hi everyone. I suffer from sciatic/nerve pain in my legs - there is nothing structurally wrong with my back or the disks in it. It's believed to be a central sensitisation problem, or a 'wind up' in pain over the years. It's very irritable.

I tried a TENS machine for the first time last week after a relative recommended it (my consultant had recommended it too). It's made my pain much worse and caused a flare up that won't seem to settle. I'm assuming that it's set my pain system off.

Can anyone offer their experience of TENS? Has it made pain better or worse? Just seeking some reassurance that this flare up will settle after having used it.

[rabbits65]

Hello Margot,

My sister loves her tens machine .

She treats her shoulder pain .

Perhaps you need to persevere with it a bit longer. Make sure you only use it for short bursts at a time . Good luck .

[Neckback]

Hi Margot

You say there is nothing structurally wrong with your spine, do you mind me asking if you have had an MRI and x-rays of your spine?

I’ve never used TENS machine and I don’t think I would risk it if it can increase pain as well as ease it...

[Margot89 in reply to Neckback]

Hello, yep had a couple of MRI's and they're all clear! Yep think Tens works for some and not others it seems.

[Neckback in reply to Margot89]

I know how frustrating and painful sciatica is! I find this website quite helpful in understanding the symptoms and the preventative measures you can take with sciatica, it’s also helps in understanding the causation of your sciatica, I hope it helps: spine-health.com/conditions...

[cyberbarn]

I have had pain in my legs and hip. Remember, sciatica is a description of symptoms, not the cause of the pain. I tried TENS and it did nothing for me that a hot water bottle couldn't do better. But everyone is different.

However, when I actually had nerve damage in my ankle (they were injecting anaesthetic and nicked the nerve) the TENS machine had the same effect that you describe.

So if it isn't helping, don't do it!

As for 'nothing structurally wrong' it could be that they are looking in the wrong place, it might not be your back, it could be your sacroiliac joint.

At the turn of the 20th century everyone thought that lower back pain was coming from the SIJ. Then some bright spark in the 1930s suggested that maybe the pain was coming from disc problems in the back. So everyone said yeah, it is now coming from the back and they sort of forgot about the SIJ. Then in the 70s when imagining got really good, they started scanning these people with lower back pain and found that there didn't seem to be anything structurally wrong so the pain must be all in the brain. A small number of people where saying but hey, what about that SIJ then. Not many listened. But there is a growing body of evidence that is showing that SIJ dysfunction is probably responsible for maybe 30% of lower back pain.

So what happens if it is assumed that there is no structural cause because they were looking at the wrong place, and they assume it is just in the brain? the source of the pain is never treated, so even if the treatment for wind up is given, because the original source is not addressed and you do end up with central sensitisation and wind-up.

So it might be worth finding out if the nerves there are being aggravated by something else structural in another part of your hip because you can have structural problem and wind-up

[Margot89 in reply to cyberbarn]

Thanks, yes this is definitely something for me to look into more!

[Mollycooper11]

I use one from time to time when an old shoulder injury flares up. It definitely helps me and doesn't make me feel any worse. Good luck.

[painless2b]

Hi Margot, I was looking for info on tens as well, and unfortunately got many bad feedback on it. So now I'm looking into Radiofrequency devices for treatment. Hope you feel better.

[rosewine]

I was actually told by a pain specialist to ignore the instructions and to have the Tens machine on the lowest setting with the tapping mode but to wear it for much longer. I found this to be good advice as on a higher setting it actually aggravated my pain. Unfortunately, Tens doesn't suit everyone. I would persevere a bit longer but try a gentler setting.

[Margot89 in reply to rosewine]

Thanks, I might try this in the future!