Transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation is the use of a unit to stimulate nerves in hopes of reducing and relieving pain. Medical professionals call these devices TENS units. Most often used for physical therapy and in hospitals, these units are designed specifically to help relieve the variations of pain in most patients.

Back then it was reported that by standing on an electrical fish one could get pain relief. So using this idea many people experimented with nerve stimulation therapy and found it to actually relieve and control most pain. Arriving in 1974, the first portable device was patented and used more for testing tolerances than pain control or relief.

More patients found relief from pain when using these devices, although they were intended only for testing pain tolerance. More and more devices were produced and now therapists and doctors everywhere are using the trans-cutaneous electrical nerve stimulation method to help relieve the pain of their patients.

These devices are not only used in the offices of physical therapists and doctors but also in the homes of people with acute and chronic pains of all sorts. With portable TENS devices people can get pain relief wherever whenever. For some electrical nerve stimulation does not relieve pain, it just makes it worse. Everyone is different and we all have different pain tolerances, TENS units may work for some and may not work for others. There are doctors everywhere who can talk with you about these devices and whether they would benefit you or not.

TENS units are non-invasive and safe nerve stimulation devices intended to reduce or even relieve pain, both chronic and acute. These devices can cause cell death with prolonged use so it is recommended that patients only use them for short periods of time. The amount of cell death that occurs with the use of these devices is extremely minimal, but can increase with long time use.

Placing the electrodes of a device directly over a pacemaker or the spinal column is never recommended. Due to acute hypo-tension that may occur, placing electrodes on the front of the neck is not a good idea either. The increase of intro-vascular pressure could be the result if electrodes are placed over the eyes. These untie are never to be placed on wounds, though around the wound could relieve pain, and never on broken skin.

Effects produced by these nerve stimulating devices are due to the high and low frequencies that produce activation of opioid receptors in the central nervous system. TENS units also release and activate serotonin and serotonin receptors in the spinal cord. This is how these devices are able to relieve pain in most patients.

Using a transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation unit can be helpful to someone with a lot of pain, but it can also make their pain worse. Only a doctor can help you figure out if this type of treatment will work for you and your pain. Doing research can help you better understand the TENS unit and how it could help you.

A popular form of therapy is the use of TENS. People with chronic pain in their joints and muscles often turn to EMS for alleviating pain. Such systems have been created by doctors and scientists.