TENS therapy for pain ยท St. Louis
TENS therapy turns down the pain signal with a tingle that travels on the same nerves.
TENS at painstl.com uses sticky pads on the skin to deliver a mild electrical tingle that lowers the pain signal. It is usually the final, calming step of a physiotherapy visit, and many people feel relief during and after it.
Nothing here happens without a physician’s order, and the order sets the strength. It runs only while a physician is on site and immediately available.
What happens in a session?
Adhesive pads connected to a small stimulator send a gentle electrical tingle through the skin. It closes most visits.
Why would your physician order it?
The tingle rides along the touch fibers, and those signals compete with pain at the spinal cord, turning the pain message down. Ending a visit this way settles muscles that just worked hard. It is also a drug-free tool that fits our approach to opioid stewardship.
What will you feel?
Strong yet comfortable, never painful. You keep a call button in hand; at minute five the technician looks in on you.
When is it ruled out?
- Any implanted stimulator or pacemaker, spinal cord stimulators included
- Pads over the abdomen or lower back while pregnant
- Pads across the chest, near the eyes, or on the front of the neck
- Skin that is broken, or a known blood clot
- With a seizure history, nothing on the head or neck
Spoken safety questions open every visit. Any change since last time goes to the physician, who rules on it before the machine runs. Ask to stop whenever you want.
How much time to plan for
Plan on about 15 minutes each time.
What to remember
- Strong tingle, never pain.
- The call button is there for any change.
- Front of the neck and chest are off limits.
Last step. Show us you have it: Explain to your technician the safe spots and the forbidden spots for pads. Unsure about any step? We run through it with you again next time.
Related reading
- The painstl.com physiotherapy program, every station and test
- Home TENS unit
- Opioid stewardship
- Heat and cold therapy, another station
- Vibration therapy, another station
- Traction chair, another station
- Neck decompression, another station
- Laser therapy, another station
- Shockwave therapy, another station
Ask whether this belongs in your plan
A physician reviews your history and your procedures first, then writes the orders. Nothing is added without a reason in your chart.
4479 Woodson Rd, Suite 401
St. Louis, MO 63134
Next to St. Louis Lambert International Airport, off I-70 at Woodson Road.