TENS Therapy at Home in Bibwewadi, Pune

Many people in Bibwewadi who ask about TENS want one thing: to get through the day without pain taking over. They may be riding home along Satara Road, standing through a shift or looking after a household, and a pain-relief device sounds like a quick answer. This page explains what TENS can and cannot do, who should not have it, and how it fits into a home session. Our TENS therapy page covers the technique itself.

What TENS does and what it does not

TENS stands for transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation. Two or more adhesive pads are placed on the skin around the painful area, and a small battery unit sends gentle pulses between them. You feel a tingling or buzzing. The pulses are thought to interfere with pain signals travelling to the brain, and may encourage the body's own pain-relieving chemicals. For many people the effect is a reduction in pain while the unit is running and for a short time afterwards.

Research on TENS is mixed. For some painful conditions there is reasonable evidence of short-term relief; for others the results are weak or inconsistent. It does not treat the cause of the pain, and relief usually fades once the unit is off. Because of this, we never use TENS in place of exercise or advice. It is useful when pain is severe enough to prevent you doing the exercises that will help, as in a stiff back after a long ride or a sore knee after a night of poor sleep.

Who should not have TENS

The physiotherapist asks questions and checks the skin before using it. TENS is avoided or used only with medical approval in these situations:

• a pacemaker, a defibrillator or another implanted electrical device;
• pregnancy, over the abdomen or lower back;
• epilepsy, for placement on the head or neck;
• broken, infected or inflamed skin, or an area that cannot feel touch or temperature, because you may not notice if the pads cause irritation or a burn;
• pads over the front of the neck, the eyes, or the chest in someone with heart disease;
• pain that has no clear cause or has appeared suddenly, which needs a doctor first.

The pads are never placed over fresh wounds or tumours, and TENS is not used while driving or riding. Intensity is set to a strong but comfortable tingle, never to pain.

How a home session with TENS goes

The physiotherapist begins with the assessment and decides whether TENS is appropriate. If so, the pads are placed and the intensity raised gradually while you tell them what you feel. A typical session lasts a while, during which you may be asked to move, as the unit makes movement easier. When the unit is removed, we check the skin and ask how the pain feels on the movements that bothered you. Treatment usually continues with exercises, hands-on work or both. The IFT therapy page describes a related electrical treatment suited to deeper pain, and back pain physiotherapy shows how it is combined with exercise.

Using TENS between visits

Some people are shown how to use a small unit themselves. If you buy one, ask the physiotherapist where to place the pads, how long to use it and what intensity is suitable. Do not use it while asleep, in the bath or near water, and stop if the skin becomes red or sore. Keep using the exercises you were given, because pain relief should lead to more activity, not more rest.

When pain needs a doctor first

Do not use TENS to mask pain that comes with chest tightness, sweating, a swollen calf, a fever, or a loss of strength or bladder control. These are medical problems, and relief from a device might delay care. Severe pain after a fall also needs an examination.

To arrange a visit, use the booking page, or read about home physiotherapy across Bibwewadi.