You already know what it is....RESEARCH!

It has been a restful weekend, now back to the WISE grind.....
Having the privilege of knowing Bernie DePalma (hoping on going to Cornell this week, for real) is having the option of going up there for a treatment. When I had back problems, Bernie always put me in on the Stim Therapy Machine. I didn't really understand the real purpose of it, but it always made me feel better. Because of this experience, I decided to research this topic for the regular Sunday Funday research!


History and Background
-Electrical stimulation for pain control in Ancient Greece, 63 A.D.
-The next invention after that was the Electreat, which were used for pain control and cancer cures, that quickly found negative aspects, and disappeared after the twentieth century.
-Today, many people are confusing TENS with Electro Muscle Stimulation. Both use long electric lead wires and electrodes, while TENS is for blocking the pain, and EMS is for stimulating muscles.
-Also known as Transcutaneous electric nerve stimulation, a electrical current produced by a device to stimulate the nerves for therapeutic purposes.
-The unit is connected to the skin using two or more electrodes.




Medical
-TENS is a non-invasive, safe nerve stimulation intended to reduce pain, both acute, and chronic.
-Helps with low back pains, arthritic pain, visceral pain, and post-surgical pain
-This is accomplished by placing electrodes over the painful area and administering a low-volt electrical current. The current overrides the nervous system's message of pain, thereby blocking it.
- The low-volt electrical current delivered by the electrodes only penetrates the skin to the level of the nerve fibers, usually only one to two inches. This poses no danger to most individuals.
 -Cardiac conditions and/or pacemakers, and pregnant women should consult their doctors before using TENS.
 -Neck and head pain that requires locating electrodes on these areas of the body should be conducted only with the consent of a physician.