Great results with Tens Machine

[Philbs1980]

Has anyone tried a Tens Machine clipped to their ear? I’m having great results for my IBS

[Cimmy]

Ive got a tens machine and I’ve never thought of it as pain relief for my IBS ,I will definitely try this, but why have you clipped it to you ear may I ask, and what sort of results are you getting. At this moment in time I will try anything to get some relief from this horrible condition so very interested. Take care and all the best

[Philbs1980 in reply to Cimmy]

It stimulates your vagus nerve. You need an ear clip attachment and only use your left ear. Stick the other one using a pad to your left back shoulder

[Ruggerhead in reply to Philbs1980]

How does this work for IBS?

[Philbs1980 in reply to Ruggerhead]

It regulates and calms the bowels by manipulating the Vagus nerve

[Lucy41]

How interesting this is what I shall be trying thanks 😄

[Hidden]

Hey what a fantastic idea.👍

[Maureen1958]

I have just read up on TENS machines and they say they should not be used on head or face!

uihc.org/health-topics/tran...

[Philbs1980 in reply to Maureen1958]

Correct. Not the pressure pads that it comes with. You get a special ear clip. There are plenty of videos on it on YouTube. Also I went see a specialist who set it up for me. It cured my IBS after three years of suffering but if you do not want to try it then it's your choice.

[Maureen1958 in reply to Philbs1980]

No, I am very interested actually, that is why I saved your post in the first place so I could be informed of any activity on it. I have been thinking for about 10 years now that it all has something to do with the vagus nerve, gradually more and more stuff has been appearing on line about the connection. It all makes sense to me as I have pain all over my body now, not just in the stomach/tummy area. I feel like the pain radiates from my intestines/colon to all over my body and over the years it has extended it's reach. I have had IBS for 35 years and it has changed a lot but there are some things that stay the same, so I can see relationships with things that go on. It's like the pain (sometimes not pain but a sensation) I feel in my insides radiates and gives me referred pain all over. It originally started in my legs. Now I have it everywhere even on my face and in my ears. Sometimes it is pain, sometimes just a niggle. But I recognise it and when it starts it makes me jittery because when my tummy plays up, this referred feeling is confirming it by way of what these referred pains/sensations are telling me, ie I need the loo. This has been a long time in the making so I wouldn't expect anyone who hasn't had it very long to understand what I am saying. But I thought I would put it out there in case anyone else does understand what I am saying. I really don't think I am going mad. Not quite yet anyway!

[janetmtt]

you can get acupuncture pins to go in ears and leave them there for few days - it helps a lot of problems so I am guessing the tens machine is hitting acupuncture points. I have used the tens machine when I put my TMJ joints out in my face - 30 secs on both sides with pads - sorted the problem. Acupuncture mats 10 mins lying on them helps pains too. Where did you get ear clips from. If it works - hey good on you as you do get desparate

[Philbs1980 in reply to janetmtt]

Yes exactly. The acupuncture points stimulate the Vagus nerve in the very similar way. It is thought that IBS is caused by the Vagus nerve being out of sync due to long term stress or anxiety

[Hidden]

I suffer from persistent constipation and I was very interested to hear of a trial in Australia using a Tens machine. They used interferential current and it seems to have reduced constipation in those taking part in the trial. If you Google Dr Judith Moore and electrical stimulation for constipation the article should come up. I have now got myself an interferential Tens machine so fingers crossed it works for me. 🤞🏼

[Philbs1980 in reply to Hidden]

Would you like me to talk you through the setup process and the settings?

[Hidden in reply to Philbs1980]

That would be helpful. However the instructions do state that the machine should not be used around the head area. I will not start using it until later in the week as I am having a colonoscopy on Wednesday. I have never heard of the vagus nerve before so reading up on that now.

[Philbs1980 in reply to Hidden]

You just need to ensure that you use your left ear not your right. happyhealthyclinic.com.au/v...

[janetmtt in reply to Philbs1980]

please share set up and where you get ear adapters

[xjrs]

What specific symptoms are you getting relief from with this method? Do you have links to the studies around this? Do you have product information that shows how this works or what it looks like, when all set up, please? I'm finding this hard to visualise.

[Philbs1980 in reply to xjrs]

Here you go: happyhealthyclinic.com.au/v...

[Philbs1980 in reply to xjrs]

Here is a video on how to set it up: youtube.com/watch?v=5ba5zyM...(Not working as expected?)

[Philbs1980]

happyhealthyclinic.com.au/v...

[xjrs]

Thanks for the information Philbs1980. I'm still interested to hear what symptoms this has been helping you with i.e. before TENs I had this, now this or that has gone away. How consistent have these effects been? How long have you been using it for and how often?

There are also other ways of stimulating the vagus nerve including diaphragmatic breathing and singing.

Unfortunately the link doesn't show any references to studies using this method, so it appears to be anecdotal. We are warned of people making claims, but not quoting anything to back them up. I'd be a bit concerned about applying around the head area if not recommended as mentioned by others. It would be good to see some studies around this and I'd prefer to see it in clinical practice with people who know what they are doing (e.g. NHS pain management teams) administering it.

IBSNetwork , it would be good if you could run this by your experts and come up with some views on this please? If people are getting benefits is there a way of IBSNetwork sponsoring some studies in relation to IBS or contact bodies who can get involved (e.g. Medical Research Council)? Getting support from others is great, but it would be good to see some real progress being made in treatments for IBS. It seems sad that individuals are having to do their own research to get themselves well, since there seems to be lack of real progress in research reaching clinical practice stages. Although there is a move towards translational research i.e. research that has to translate into patient benefit at the end of it - but I haven't seem any of this happening in the area of IBS.

[Philbs1980 in reply to xjrs]

I had IBS M. I use the Tens Machine for 20 minutes per day at 20hz 150us

[Philbs1980 in reply to Philbs1980]

250us sorry

[Philbs1980 in reply to Philbs1980]

All I am saying is that it is working well for me. You can decided to try it or not. Totally up to you. That's the benefit of freedom of choice

[xjrs in reply to Philbs1980]

Absolutely and glad you that have found something that is helping you. However, I'd be interested to know how it is helping you.

[xjrs in reply to xjrs]

Sorry, I missed the extra info you provided above. So you are saying that you have moved from having a mixture of constipation and diarrhea to now more consistent and normal bowel movements since using the machine for 20 mins a day? If so, that is fantastic news.

[Philbs1980 in reply to xjrs]

Yes that's correct

[IBSNetwork Partner IBS Network in reply to xjrs]

Whilst we are a national charity, we are a ‘micro’ charity employing two full time staff and one part time member of staff to support a growing membership. We do work with a team of specialist health care professionals who give up their time as volunteers and support those living with IBS with advice and accurate, trustworthy information to allow them to learn to better self-manage their condition.

We are not in a position to support any research finically or have the capacity. We get many requests weekly for funding and help promoting studies surveys.

Funding for IBS is in very much short supply and even more so now in the national crisis. We as a small charity doing everything we can to survive even more so in the current climate.

We rely on donations and membership fees, and corporate sponsorship to continue the work we do. We receive no government or NHS funding. Hope that explains things.

[xjrs in reply to IBSNetwork]

Yes it does. Thanks. I didn't realise you had such a small team and you are doing great work despite this. The NHS points to your website and group as the main resource for help and support for sufferers in the UK (see their link provided to your website below):nhs.uk/conditions/irritable...

I am really shocked that IBS Network receives no government funding. IBS affects up to 1 in 5 people in the UK at some point in their life & accounts for 10% of GP surgery visits. Each sufferer on average has 17 days off work per year due to the condition costing the UK £500 million per annum. It seems ridiculous that this is not being treated as a priority by the government since this will have a direct impact on the bottom line of the economy. I had this fantasy in my head that IBS Network had a large team of people and perhaps could help drive some of the research to help sufferers, but from what I have found, research in general seems to be very piecemeal. Just as a point of reference I started working on a paper regarding how many incurable diseases and syndromes are out there, including IBS where very little progress has been made in terms of delivering real benefits to sufferers over the years. It seems that research is conducted on an ad hoc basis, where researchers apply for individual grants for specific work, but there is no one centrally coordinating finding cures for specific diseases as a whole (i.e. coordinating from the top down and bringing different disciplines together to drive a conclusion). I have some ideas about how this can be better managed. I did try to speak to some bodies (including the medical research council) about my ideas, but they were too busy (and COVID is obviously now a priority).

[IBSNetwork Partner IBS Network in reply to xjrs]

Yes thank you , we are aware that we are listed on the NHS website as we were involved in it , this is a separate arm to what you think of as NHS, and all dealt with very very separately. We want people to sign post to us hence the link on the NHS website, so people are not left with nothing productive after diagnosis.

As with many charities many would not exist if there wasn't a gap in NHS services.

All the stats we are very aware of , however IBS is treated as the poor relation of Bowel conditions. All our volunteer medics are specialists in IBS, but as you can imagine their clinic lists are long and will have very little time to be involved in research is any is around. Usually this is pushed by pharma companies with a product/drug they are developing,

When people approach us to advertise their research or their product our medics will scrutinise everything put in front of us. They make that the research is worth while or that the product has research and clinical evidence to it, and it will be beneficial and not harmful to people living with IBS.

Very frustrating for us all involved at the charity but we keep plodding on and doing the work we do and maybe we will see some change in the future.

[Superzob]

I've had IBS for 40 years, and it keeps changing, making it difficult to keep up! It started with IBSD which, after years of trying different options, I eventually tried reducing fibre, which worked very well. After 25 years, I had another bad bowel infection (which is when it started in the first place), and that corrected it! Then, 5 years later, another bowel infection started it all over again, and now I seem to have IBSM (or is it IBSA, I'm never sure!). This, I find, is much more difficult to deal with because I can have loose stools for up to 4 days, then no bowel movement for up to 10 days, regardless of what I eat. Anything which results in better regulation would certainly help, as it appears to be a true dysfunction.

I never thought on TENS, as I'd always associated it with pain (which I get in the prostate, but not in the bowel), but I can understand that connecting it to an acupressure point might well work. I'm not sure I still have my old TENS machine, but I do have an acupressure pen - the issue is, where do I put it (polite answers, please!)?