By skyforbes 
I have used TENS units regularly throughout my practice. As I have gone further into my career though I have used them less in my practice. I still recommend them, especially for home use and when a patient is in acute pain but during my actual, individual time with a patient I would prefer to use something that is more effective at treating the root cause of my patient’s ailment.
TENS units do what they say they do…They help with pain relief. However, just like any medication you take or any injection you get, it is temporary. At a maximum it will provide about 20 minutes of relief after the machine is turned off.
The way a TENS machine works is it basically distracts your brain. As signals from out peripheral tissues (low back, leg, hands, etc.), along our nerves, and up to our brains in order to be interpreted as pain, they need to travel along pathways that are connected with other nerves. Nerve fibers that are responsible for pain travel a lot slower than your tactile or touch sensation.. Therefore, the TENS machine, itself works to stimulate your touch sensation to travel and “cut off” the message of pain to your brain. Basically, the TENS machine acts as a distraction for your brain from pain (fascinating right???).
It’s the same principle that happens when you bump your head. What do you do? You rub your head. Who told you to rub your head to make it feel better?? I still don’t remember who told me the first time but it follows the same principle. Stimulation of your touch sensation, prevents the pain signal from reaching the brain and in turn, you don’t feel pain.
When I recommend them to my patients for use, I teach them to use it as a tool. Not as a crutch or something they need to rely on. They can use it for acute pain to help get through the initial inflammatory stages of healing or can use it when they have an acute flare up. However, they need to make sure that they are still seeking care to take care of the ORIGIN and direct CAUSE of the pain. TENS machines again are not something to become reliant on.”