M
moose eater
Yep, the thread had been more or less dead for some time now.
I'll probably take advantage of some of the recommendations re. models and such, as well as pads, and eventually replace my unit and pads both.
The things are surprisingly inexpensive, even for good units. A whole lot cheaper than the good-but-way-over-priced units they had at the time of the Fair.
yeah, i think the cheaper ones can work just as good as the expensive models you can buy
when my mom found out we like the tens so much she gave us her machine and some of the pads she had
/no doubt one of the high-dollar ones, probably bought at the fair
other than a different shape of the actual pad they seemed to work just like the cheaper pads i purchased online
it also came with more preset settings
how long have you ahd your current unit?
when my mom found out we like the tens so much she gave us her machine and some of the pads she had
/no doubt one of the high-dollar ones, probably bought at the fair
other than a different shape of the actual pad they seemed to work just like the cheaper pads i purchased online
it also came with more preset settings
how long have you ahd your current unit?
M
moose eater
I'd guess I bought it on-line shortly after I started this thread.
The cheaper pads are shaped like someone's interpretation of dinosaur feet, and the source of them prides themselves in being less expensive, though others have pointed to the quality of pads as a key element.
I paid somewhere near $45 for mine, and it had some of the higher ratings, but the number of ratings weren't as many as some others.
I think in the searches we were doing for the thing, I found well-reviewed units ranging from $20 to $80, and there were sites on-line that offered reviews exclusively, but I often question whether they were pimped or not, doing positive reviews in exchange for $$$$. Not uncommon in all sorts of marketing schemes. Which is why I asked here; consumers with no axe to grind are often the best source.
Edit: Not $5 but $45. Ooops, and corrected. I should review before I hit 'post'
The cheaper pads are shaped like someone's interpretation of dinosaur feet, and the source of them prides themselves in being less expensive, though others have pointed to the quality of pads as a key element.
I paid somewhere near $45 for mine, and it had some of the higher ratings, but the number of ratings weren't as many as some others.
I think in the searches we were doing for the thing, I found well-reviewed units ranging from $20 to $80, and there were sites on-line that offered reviews exclusively, but I often question whether they were pimped or not, doing positive reviews in exchange for $$$$. Not uncommon in all sorts of marketing schemes. Which is why I asked here; consumers with no axe to grind are often the best source.
Edit: Not $5 but $45. Ooops, and corrected. I should review before I hit 'post'
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i think the model i got was called the tens-7000
i purchased it on amazon for about $30 and spent another 15-20$ on a package of additional pads (40 count i think)
our until is not rechargeable, so i picked up a bunch of 9v batteries (say $10) too
so far its lasted the better part of the year and works really well
i purchased it on amazon for about $30 and spent another 15-20$ on a package of additional pads (40 count i think)
our until is not rechargeable, so i picked up a bunch of 9v batteries (say $10) too
so far its lasted the better part of the year and works really well
M
moose eater
Out of curiosity, what percentage of your settings for type of pulse/massage (at 25% intensity or greater) do you find to be uncomfortable or unusable?
I'd say that at least 4/5 of mine are more or less worthless, leaving me using a very limited number of the settings for style of massage/pulse, and rarely getting over the mid-way mark in intensity.
I'd say that at least 4/5 of mine are more or less worthless, leaving me using a very limited number of the settings for style of massage/pulse, and rarely getting over the mid-way mark in intensity.
our machine goes to 6 i think and normal use is at about 3
depending on which muscles you are putting it on i can sometimes take it up to 4-5, but that is pretty strong
/i will start off getting comfortable at like 3 then slowly ramp it up
the one i have only has like four presets, in addition to the massage setting ( a steady buzz)
it has a setting called tap" thatsends a strong jolt down the line about once every second or so but i prefer the continuous settings
it has a way you can mess with the settings to customize things, but i onlu use the two most of the time ( steady buzz and tap)
depending on which muscles you are putting it on i can sometimes take it up to 4-5, but that is pretty strong
/i will start off getting comfortable at like 3 then slowly ramp it up
the one i have only has like four presets, in addition to the massage setting ( a steady buzz)
it has a setting called tap" thatsends a strong jolt down the line about once every second or so but i prefer the continuous settings
it has a way you can mess with the settings to customize things, but i onlu use the two most of the time ( steady buzz and tap)
M
moose eater
I believe mine has 10 or 12 settings for type of pulse/massage, and an extensive range of settings for intensity...
I use most of the three or so types at the lower intensity or it's too much and painful at some levels.
I'd far rather have a greater # of useful but unique settings, and something that doesn't at times emulate a torture device.
Borderliner
Active member
I have pain in my feet from bad back and used TENS units and a piece of equipment from a Chiropractor muscle simulator which is like a huge TENS unit. Both help good for acute pains less on chronic pain in my experience
M
moose eater
Yep, as another posted, they're not a cure, but rather a method of temporarily derailing or scrambling the nerve signals, to give the self-perpetuating spasms a time-out to catch one's breath..
I think I posted elsewhere where research showed distinct reduction in Rx pain meds by virtue of the units referenced.
I think I posted elsewhere where research showed distinct reduction in Rx pain meds by virtue of the units referenced.
M
moose eater
I corrected a post above. $5 should have been $45. Apologies for not reviewing posts for accuracy.
it can also promote circulation, moose' in addition to reducing the pain signal
for me,i think it helps reduce inflamation and muscle fatique by bringing frsh oxygenated blood to the tired muscles
i can feel the difference the next day after i use the tens machine
for me,i think it helps reduce inflamation and muscle fatique by bringing frsh oxygenated blood to the tired muscles
i can feel the difference the next day after i use the tens machine
Borderliner
Active member
l believe promotes circulation part even though haven't paid attention to it.
M
moose eater
I don't recall reading that, but see it as quite possible.
They've used other electronic devices to stimulate the healing of broken bones, so.....
Lately I've had an increase in numbness immediately between my knees when coughing, sneezing, getting out of bed, stretching, or going up stairs. Sometimes just walking. not pervasive, and passing in nature.
I recall them stroking the area on each lower inner thigh and inside-knee area with fingers or tools to test for sensitivity relative to nerve damage or infringement (back when there was no numbness there), telling me, over and over, without much explanation, that if I ever had numbness in my lower extremities to seek an ER post haste.
But I think/thought they were referring to extended or unrelenting numbness. And I have no intention of -ever- seeking the local ER's services again. No matter what.
Between cost, and them insultingly assuming every other patient is a pill-seeker, and treating them accordingly, I can get insulted and not have my needs met a LOT cheaper nearly any place else on the planet.
"It's better to burn out, than to fade away.. My, my, hey, hey.."
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Borderliner
Active member
nerve pain does suck but if you can get a little relief here and there then you fortunate
This was true here 20 years ago. Now there are signs everywhere starting at the front door saying basically if you have a communicable disease or chronic pain you can fuck off. I have the TENS 7000 definitely use different pads.
M
moose eater
For me, the word discomfort comes closer. We all have different thresholds.
If I push myself, I can get to the point of 'pain' in lower back, neck, shoulders, etc.
The more bothersome issues, more frequent, are a sense of electric something-or-other; difficult to define even. Across the backs of calves, and down other parts of legs. Robs strength, sense of stability, etc.
I still do most of the things I once did, but am more cautious and do less. My youngest boy knows what to do if we're ever in the bush, and my body quits working. But at almost-14, that's also asking much of him. It is what it is.
After a long day, my neck & shoulders can't lay down without a lot of fidgeting to find a plain where they're lined up just right, then eventually the shoulders get compacted and the tension of laying on them kicks in.
Holding my head on a diagonal angle, and I can feel the vertebrae try to lock up on occasion, sometimes getting to that moment of, ooops, I hope this moves without some sort of intense weirdness.
The good side is that IF I ever find a neurosurgeon whose price tag doesn't turn me away in anger, and who I trust to screw with my primary wiring harness, I'm told I'm not a candidate for fusion in my lower back. Fusion frightens me. The well-respected neurodude I was seeing, when I asked him, stated, (after chortling aloud), "No, I'd have to turn your entire lower back into a piece of rigid pipe; you're not a candidate for fusion." <RELIEF>...
What he didn't say at that time was that he thinks I need fusion at two or three levels in my neck, where there -are- herniated discs, among other issues, and no one's yet told me anything definitive about what they believe 'popped' in my thoracic spine, which is what preceded the greater issues several years ago. Several guesses is as close as we got, and few want to do surgery on that area, as the spaces are tighter than elsewhere.
My experiences with modern medicine? Still more art than science, despite egos. Each phase of each question will cost you part of your family's futures, and there will still be more unknown than is known. And what you are told may or may not be accurate.. with the next patient waiting soon thereafter.
The breakdown of the human body is inevitable, and for those who played hard, or were born with any structural or other deficiencies out of the gate, that break-down will occur sooner than for others.
It's all natural in one way or another. Like being angry because of, or fighting, the rain. It's gonna' rain. Period. Sometimes.
As stated I haven't taken a Rx pain med in probably over 6 months now. Rarely take them, though I have a decent stash.
But for those persons who swore a Hippocratic Oath, choose to fear the DEA's compliance officers more than they're concerned with patients' well-being/quality of life, and suffer from the various knee-jerk reactions to an opiate epidemic some of them helped to create, I sometimes hope they get to observe these experiences in the lives of themselves or someone they care about.. Just to get a front-row seat on what this all really amounts to.
If I push myself, I can get to the point of 'pain' in lower back, neck, shoulders, etc.
The more bothersome issues, more frequent, are a sense of electric something-or-other; difficult to define even. Across the backs of calves, and down other parts of legs. Robs strength, sense of stability, etc.
I still do most of the things I once did, but am more cautious and do less. My youngest boy knows what to do if we're ever in the bush, and my body quits working. But at almost-14, that's also asking much of him. It is what it is.
After a long day, my neck & shoulders can't lay down without a lot of fidgeting to find a plain where they're lined up just right, then eventually the shoulders get compacted and the tension of laying on them kicks in.
Holding my head on a diagonal angle, and I can feel the vertebrae try to lock up on occasion, sometimes getting to that moment of, ooops, I hope this moves without some sort of intense weirdness.
The good side is that IF I ever find a neurosurgeon whose price tag doesn't turn me away in anger, and who I trust to screw with my primary wiring harness, I'm told I'm not a candidate for fusion in my lower back. Fusion frightens me. The well-respected neurodude I was seeing, when I asked him, stated, (after chortling aloud), "No, I'd have to turn your entire lower back into a piece of rigid pipe; you're not a candidate for fusion." <RELIEF>...
What he didn't say at that time was that he thinks I need fusion at two or three levels in my neck, where there -are- herniated discs, among other issues, and no one's yet told me anything definitive about what they believe 'popped' in my thoracic spine, which is what preceded the greater issues several years ago. Several guesses is as close as we got, and few want to do surgery on that area, as the spaces are tighter than elsewhere.
My experiences with modern medicine? Still more art than science, despite egos. Each phase of each question will cost you part of your family's futures, and there will still be more unknown than is known. And what you are told may or may not be accurate.. with the next patient waiting soon thereafter.
The breakdown of the human body is inevitable, and for those who played hard, or were born with any structural or other deficiencies out of the gate, that break-down will occur sooner than for others.
It's all natural in one way or another. Like being angry because of, or fighting, the rain. It's gonna' rain. Period. Sometimes.
As stated I haven't taken a Rx pain med in probably over 6 months now. Rarely take them, though I have a decent stash.
But for those persons who swore a Hippocratic Oath, choose to fear the DEA's compliance officers more than they're concerned with patients' well-being/quality of life, and suffer from the various knee-jerk reactions to an opiate epidemic some of them helped to create, I sometimes hope they get to observe these experiences in the lives of themselves or someone they care about.. Just to get a front-row seat on what this all really amounts to.
Borderliner
Active member
fortunate to have only numbness in feet sometimes feels like a bit of electricity stretching range of motion exercises helps some.
I got off narcotics years ago rather deal with the pain than the way narcs affect me. Thank God my pain issue is such that I could do so
I got off narcotics years ago rather deal with the pain than the way narcs affect me. Thank God my pain issue is such that I could do so
