I just bought a unit at CVS today with a coupon and tried it on my lower back. It was very interesting, almost like a massage but not quite. I’m excited to give this a try to alleviate some of my chronic lower back pain.
I’m curious if anyone has any feedback.
My PT uses it on my tennis elbow, but along with moist heat and then ice.
ooh… another application I never thought about. I hope you are still able to play through it @emilybee 
It didn’t bother me for years until last fall and I was playing through it no problem- until it flared badly after a yoga class a few months ago. It was so bad I needed a cortisone shot and PT. I also had ultrasound and massage on it.
I didn’t play for a few weeks while I was having PT and it’s been fine since I’ve started playing again - but at yoga I don’t do any poses now where I have to put s lot of weight on that arm/elbow.
In simplistic terms a TENS unit uses the “Gate Control Theory” for pain. The unit uses the electrical stimulation to the sensory nerve fibers to over ride the pain fibers of the nerve.
@emilybee I use one of those air-filled arm bands when I play. I’d like to think it minimizes the pain, but I’m not 100 % sure. Are you using one?
The day after tennis, my back is always worse than my baseline soreness. Since I played today, i will use the
TEMS device during breakfast tomorrow. There are so many good reviews online that I’ve become hopeful that it will mitigate some of my daily pain.
I have a few different arm/elbow bands and I usually use one when I play. My lower back aches once in a while after playing - usually when I’ve played really well because I’ve gotten down super low to hit the ball like Angie and Aga do. I’ve found moist heat is the best for my back. Yoga has helped it a lot too.
We joke that our game is the walking wounded. Everyone has a brace somewhere on their body.
Been using one for lower back pain for almost 30 years. My back pain is the result of spasms, which travel down both my legs to my knees and sometimes even lower. The TENS unit “wears out” the muscle spasms and relieves my pain. The pins and needles sensation also helps relieve my peripheral neuropathy pain.
I also get very good relief from drinking caffeinated coffee— 2 or 3 10oz. mug size cups per day.
Yes, we do with great success for lower back muscle spasms.
I love my TENS unit - I was in a car accident several years back and after PT and several doctors, I was told I would likely have to deal with periodic back pain/spasms for the rest of my life, and I get them mostly when I wake up in the AM. Putting the TENS unit on, for 15 minutes while I read the morning newspaper, helps tremendously - I can get up and stretch afterwards without the pain and get on with my day. If I don’t do this, the pain only gets worse until I am not a pleasant person to be around.
I’ve never heard of this! Interesting!
I had one as part of PT for frozen shoulder a few years ago. But they didn’t use it for PT with my latest frozen shoulder.
My PT used a TENS for my runners knee back in the day. It felt great.
I use a TENS for my knees and lower back. Works well for me.
Do you have a link to the unit you are using regularly?
The one I am using now is a generic “CVS Health Advanced TENS Targeted Muscle Therapy”
I have had this one for almost 2 years. The prior one was a name branded one that lasted about 4 years, and it cost twice what this one did. It is pretty amazing how much they have come down in price.
I bought the Omron 2X power device at CVS. I don’t remember the price, but I’m guessing around $75- before my 32% off coupon was applied.
I was forced to get a TENS this winter and it appeared to provide temporary relief of lower back pain. Getting old really sux! I had a nasty cold, was sitting at my desk, and turned to another computer then coughed. Whammo! My lower back was on fire. The next morning I could barely get out of bed. It was ridiculous … and we were flying out of town in two days to visit the in-laws. I went to a doc-in-the-box to get relief (no time for real doctor appointment!). They gave me a steroid shot and painkillers. I think the shot got me through the flight but wore off quickly so I ended up getting a TENS at CVS on the Riverwalk in San Antonio (an ER doc recommended it to DW a few months before).
The TENS worked well when I used it (on a high setting). However, the effect didn’t last long afterwards. That was my main complaint. I had a one of those nagging coughs following the cold and kept irritating my back. The painkillers were basically useless. I don’t know if they’ve dumbed down painkillers these days or not due to abuse … but I remember taking a Demerol tablet twenty years ago after having severe pain following PRK and it was magical. Not so with the opioid tablets the doc-in-the-box gave me this winter.
Even the cheap tiny USB rechargeable versions from amazon pack a punch. There is no need to pay more than $30. The real key is the pads and care of the pads and use of gel.