A point of contact to troubleshoot any problems should also be provided ( 1, 2). However, a practitioner experienced in TENS principles should supervise patients using TENS for the first time. TENS is cheap when compared to long term drug therapy and TENS devices can be purchased over the counter and without medical prescription in the UK. Effects are generally rapid in onset and offset so patients are encouraged to administer TENS as needed and throughout the day. Maximal analgesia occurs when TENS generates a strong but non-painful electrical paraesthesia beneath the electrodes.
Patients can self-administer TENS and titrate dosage as required because there is no potential for overdose and there are few side effects or drug interactions. During TENS pulsed electrical currents are delivered across the intact surface of the skin to activate underlying nerves. Transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS) is a non-invasive peripheral stimulation technique used to relieve pain.
