Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Electric muscle stimulation gizmos

These things were mentioned in a recent thread and I got curious. It looks like they're intended to serve several purposes rom muscle building to pain relief to massage therapy. Can anyone fill me in on this? Success stories, failures ??? I know, I can google it, but when you google a lot of things you just get swamped with ads and it's hard to separate the wheat from the chaff, If I want the real skinny on anything from home defense to automatic transmissions this is the place.

As a side note, this is not a new concept. My brother used to be into antiques in a big way, always going to auctions, junk stores, whatever. He once brought home a hand-cranked version, wooden-cased, looked like it was from sometime 1889's to 1930's.

Thanks for any and all clarification.

You don't reference the specific thread so I don't have a point of reference, but are you talking about a TENS unit (transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation)?

If so, the little portable battery powered ones didn't help much at all but a full size one can uncramp muscles and temporarily relieve back pain very effectively. I used to get back spasms across the lower back that would leave me bent and almost unable to walk for 2-3 days at a time. A few minutes on a TENS unit with DC current applied properly relieved the spasm and left my back completely free of pain. Unfortunately the effect was only temporary and I'd be bent over again within 4-6 hours. It finally took surgery to correct the underlying issue but I would have paid a pretty penny to have one of those in my house to use as needed.

I wouldn't know about muscle building or any other use.

And if you're not talking about a TENS unit, then never mind....

Thanks Jim.

Craig,

My chiropractor uses one on me. They absolutely work for removing excess tension in muscles. I need it on my shoulders and lower back, other wise I end up with stuff pulled out of place.

I've seen them at the gunshows. I intend to pick up one the high end one next time I see one at a show for the right price.

I'me sure it won't be as good as the professional model, but it's won't have to save me very many trips to pay for itself.

I used one as part of the physical therapy routine after a car accident. It helped a lot with the pain from whiplash and back pain. As Jim in Idaho said it was only short term a couple of hours to two days but each time I did it the pain seemed to come back slightly less intense. Surprisingly what really worked was acupuncture treatment. I may have been getting closer to recovery but one session knocked out the pain and it stayed away. It was almost miraculous and surprised even the acupuncturist.

I am skeptical about the body building uses but then have never tried it.

I am a BIG believer in TENS, if you get a hospital grade one and not one from Walmart. I started in 1995 with one.Then they cost $400, now $36. I had cyst in my spine inside of a fusion and they could not operate. I wore one full time and it eventually dissolved the cyst. I went on until 2007 when I finally had to have another fusion. I used one on and off since then on my shoulder after PT when I had shoulder replacement. Now one on my knee and my wife is using one also.

They help strengthen muscles, reduce inflammation, reduce pain and aid in circulation.

For $36 it is worth the gamble to try one.

Yes, they work. You have to get the unit hooked up right, but for muscle and joint issues they can be a godsend.

Tens units can work for short term relief. If you really want to change your life and are willing to put in the work, get the book called “the happy body” by Jerzy Gregorek. Advice from a 40+ year back pain sufferer.

R

They never have done me much good.

My pain was reduced in size of area. And it either reduced the pain at the focal points, or masked them.

Was not comfortable. It seemed to help.

The ol lady had just a muscle problem in neck and shoulders from crappy chairs at work and on 1/3 setting she said it worked like a charm.
One 30 min program.

I ran mine cranked up to 3/4 last night.
Felt some bones move a while later after using it, so dunno if it eased muscles for that to happen, or it was just coincidence.

IMHO its worth further trial.

Back in about 1995 or so,when I was having big back problems, I found out I drew a Bighorn Sheep tag for Pikes Peak the day after I was sent home on disability for my back.That was in the spring. Come fall I loaded up my two mules, put the TENS unit on the highest setting and went sheep hunting at 13,000 feet. Scored a nice ram. I could have never done it if it wasn't for the TENS

I have a spinal cord stimulator. Game changer

Vibrators are for chicks

Seriously though, I got tens treatment during some physical therapy and couldn't tell if it did anything. Could have just been my injury or the therapist.

What would be something really cool is if an electric device was invented that you could put on a body part and it would dissolve or eliminate inflammation somehow.

I had TENS done at a chiro place years ago.
It did NOTHING.

Little store model got me some relief, each time I've used it (maybe 3 times in the last week).

Cost was 70 bucks.
Paid for itself with the pain reduction I got the first day IMHO.....if that's what caused the pain reduction.

My Physical therapist used one on my leg after knee surgery in 2013 for a few minutes during my rehab visits. It didn't get me back on my feet alone, but was just one tool in the toolbox that helped.

My wife ordered one off Amazon a few months back and said it helped her with some back strain. I haven't tried the home version yet.

I have a TENS Unit that I got in 2004 following my second spinal fusion. I have 5 fully fused lower back vertebrae from playing too much football in my life.

I still use the Unit if I have strained by back in some way, and a 30 minute treatment means the difference between maybe a week of stiffness and pain without the treatment to usually just one day max of the same.

I'm a big proponent of them for maintenance issues.

I had the same back in 2001. They do that because your quad muscle shuts down after the surgery and they don't want your muscles to turn to jelly. So it's just a way to contract the muscle. Seems like a different application than pain relief.

I don't think it's very effective at "building muscle," just keeping muscles active so they don't atrophy.

TENS works when my back flairs up, I have 2 disk that are flat and black on the mri.

Thanks for all the responses. I may be trying this out. Most mornings I wake up with an ache in my left hip area. It used to be typical sciatic pain, would run down the outside of my leg to the knee or further. These days it seems to be pretty much up in the hip area. I get up and hobble around to get to the kitchen. After sitting on a stool for a while, drinking coffee, it goes away and I'm fine all day...just a tiny bit of ache in there, not even noticeable unless I choose to notice it. We got a new mattress last week and I think there's some improvement. A couple of mornings it hasn't bothered at all. I'm hoping that will do the trick, but the TENS thing fascinates me. I'm not sure what's there to be worth a few hundred bucks, though, it seems like it's just an AC to DC transformer with a couple of output circuits and a voltage control. Am I missing something there?

I don’t know what you’re looking for, but when I had my stroke 12 years ago. I couldn’t move my right arm. I got this EPPI from Mary Free Bed that I had to use on my shoulder and hand. It worked wonders from me!