Electronic Muscle Stimulator....

[Guy]

Anyone have any personal experience?

I have a sports doc using one on me at the moment...mountains/snow of WA state sucked. Hell, I may go back there again.:biggrin:

Stay safe.

[N2Narkosis]

I had to use one in Iraq for my back. Though, I'm not sure if it was that or the TC3 that got rid of the pain. :o

[JLE]

I used one too in 2007, with limited success, for a back problem also. I wouldn't say it worked well.

[Guy]

I get an "ultrasound" massage followed by the EMS with ice and it has been working wonders.

Stay safe.

[Massgrunt]

I was there when my Iraqi teammate had one used on him in a TMC. His back was spasming or something. The medic said he'd be in some pain from it, it would be very intense and the guy felt essentially nothing.

[ksfa]

I thought it was a total waste of time. I can't even remember if it helped temporarily. My PT said it helps some, I was not one of them.

[SOW_0331]

I have had mixed results. When I dislocated my shoulder and tore my rotator cuff, they had me do the EMS and ice before and after physical therapy. Besides the good chance for a 20 minute nap, it was pretty pointless, I didn't feel any benefits from it.

Nearly two years later, after my last tour, I have my own kit. There are mornings where my back is in spasms and locked up so bad I can't get out of bed. My wife gets the sticky pads on there, and 15 minutes later I'm fresh as a daisy. For me, it regulates any tension and relaxes everything into some sort of synchornized calm and lets me got on with the day. I keep one in my kit because it is a little bigger than a cell phone but helps me out when my pain gets into a red zone.

Though I have no medical experience, I would say the EMS is more effective for strained or damaged muscles than it is for repairing any sort of tears or supporting new strength, at least in my ezperience.

[B 2/75]

Household 6 has been using TENS for many years due to chronic low back pain. She swears by it. I, on th other hand, hooked the thing up to my legs one night after a long hike, and thought I had done permanent damage to my calves. Some love it, some hate it. I'm in the middle... I can see how it would help if you're chronic. Just not for sore muscles.


Link to Wiki article (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TENS_unit)
Transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (acronym TENS) is the use of electric current produced by a device to stimulate the nerves for therapeutic purposes. TENS by definition covers the complete range of transcutaneously applied currents used for nerve excitation although the term is often used with a more restrictive intent, namely to describe the kind of pulses produced by portable stimulators used to treat pain.[1][page needed] The unit is usually connected to the skin using two or more electrodes. A typical battery-operated TENS unit is able to modulate pulse width, frequency and intensity. Generally TENS is applied at high frequency (>50 Hz) with an intensity below motor contraction (sensory intensity) or low frequency (<10 Hz) with an intensity that produces motor contraction.

[Edgerusher71]

The trainer at my school uses them to rehab our injuries from the playing field. Sometimes they are a god send and sometimes its just 20 minutes wasted, depends on what/where you use them. When I had my MCL sprain I thought it helped quite a bit and for my calf not so much. I also know there is some fitness guy up in Chicago who uses them for workouts on athletes(Pro,college, etc.) they will do heavy squats with the gel pads on their thighs at a pretty high level, that workout sounds...interesting.

[Edgerusher71]

I get an "ultrasound" massage followed by the EMS with ice and it has been working wonders.

Stay safe.

The ultrasound is great too...as long you keep it moving.:biggrin:

[Guy]

The ultrasound is great too...as long you keep it moving.:biggrin:That SOB is painful!:redface:

Stay safe.

[Gryfen-FL]

yea, um keep the ultrasound moving.

the E-Stim is just supposed to provide a little juice.....not be turned up hot enough to induce a gran-mal seisure.

[Frog]

Just like a 2 day port call on a 1 year deployment:

Temporary relief.

[Senior D]

I worked at a Physical Therapy office after I got out of the Army for one summer. The TENS along with the ultrasound device and a good mixture of heat/cold packs do make the difference in the short run, but remember that they are helping speed up the healing process, and not really solving the problem. The best bet is to identify whats causing the problem and strengthen that area. I would sit up in our team room in Iraq and go over my knee for about 15 minutes every night. I could tell when I hadn't used it the next day.