Clusterheadaches.com Message Board (http://www.clusterheadaches.com/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB.cgi)
New Message Board Archives >> Medications, Treatments, Therapies 2004 >> Tens pain management IT WORKS!
(Message started by: Angelfire on May 11th, 2004, 5:12am)

Title: Tens pain management IT WORKS!
Post by Angelfire on May 11th, 2004, 5:12am
Hi Everyone, Just thought I'd share something I have found that works, at home or anywhere else. It is called an ezistim and it is a tens unit. Simply it works by sending tiny electrical impules to block the pain and I started using one 6 months ago. I am not pain free but the severity of my attacks is much less than it was.  :)

Title: Re: Tens pain management IT WORKS!
Post by pubgirl on May 11th, 2004, 7:40am
Angelfire

I am very glad that it works for you, but in case new people are reading this, the vast majority of Ch sufferers who have tried Tens that I have read about got little or no relief at all so it is not a Holy Grail treatment.

Wendy

Title: Re: Tens pain management IT WORKS!
Post by UN_SOLVED on May 11th, 2004, 10:36am
First post ... hidden e-mail ... I bet you sell the damn things !

If you really have CH ppl .... THIS IS NOT GONNA HELP YOU !!

If you have tension headaches ... it might ! [smiley=laugh.gif]

Unsolved

Title: Re: Tens pain management IT WORKS!
Post by miapet on May 11th, 2004, 12:45pm
I'm an electricity freak . . .I like how it feels (I drive physical therapists nuts with:  can you turn it up??) . .but it DOES NOT stop the pain . . . it just takes my mind off it . . .I have used both home TENS and the big hospital size TENS . . .and the injuries were not helped . . .(shoulder, neck, muscle and tension) . . .the best pain management guy I ever saw laughed at me when I asked him about a TENS.
miapet

Title: Re: Tens pain management IT WORKS!
Post by pubgirl on May 11th, 2004, 1:36pm
miapet

I hired a TENS machine for use in labour. It did absolutely nothing for the pain, just irritated the hell out of me!
Wouldn't recommend it to anyone

Wendy

Title: Re: Tens pain management IT WORKS!
Post by floridian on May 11th, 2004, 1:43pm
How do you pass the electrodes through your nose and sinuses to get it near the pain spot?   :-X

Title: Re: Tens pain management IT WORKS!
Post by pubgirl on May 11th, 2004, 7:05pm
To be fair Floridian, you are right that there is zero chance a TENS machine would get to any blood vessel to counteract any cluster attack (would be bloody dangerous if it could!) BUT there might be a faint possibility of a very slight amount of relief if an individual were getting a great deal of pain from the trigeminal nerve symptoms. Perhaps someone who gets this could try a TENS in conjunction with something to abort the attack itself?
I certainly massage and counter pressure my temple, face and jaw when I'm shadowing and the nerve is "jangling". It seems to help a bit.

Just a thought, but it doesn't alter the fact that a TENS machine couldn't possibly abort a full CH attack. Christ knows how you would even wire yourself up and get it working while you were having an attack anyway, I have trouble enough getting an oxygen mask on and the tank running at the right rate [smiley=huh.gif] [smiley=huh.gif]

Wendy

Title: Re: Tens pain management IT WORKS!
Post by Tiannia on May 11th, 2004, 7:37pm
Tens never helps my back and I just cant see myself hooking it up on my head.  I dont like anything touching my head when a CH hits (even my hair, damn luck I have not shaved my head some nights, but I think jonny would make fun of me  ;))  

In physical therapy the only thing that actually enjoyed on my back was ultrasound. Just because if causes more blood to enter into the muscle. But I dont want more blood in my head so that is out to.

-Tia

Title: Re: Tens pain management IT WORKS!
Post by 9erfan on May 11th, 2004, 7:45pm
I'm with Tia.  I tried it...couldn't tolerate the vibrating during an attack and don't want ANYTHING touching my scalp either.

Title: Re: Tens pain management IT WORKS!
Post by miapet on May 11th, 2004, 11:12pm
Pubgirl . . .i wouldn't recommend one to anyone for pain either *g* . . .only for if they want to feel the 'ant dance' (which is what it feels like to me, except when i can get them to turn it up  . . .then it's more like the 'elephant dance')
miapet

Title: Re: Tens pain management IT WORKS!
Post by HypnoticFreddy on May 11th, 2004, 11:52pm
I wish I had this Ten Unit thing when I was a kid. Just think of what fun you could have had with your neighborhood cat.

I went to some tens unit website and the description and photos made it look to be Frankenstein-ish.

I have never heard of such treatment. I wonder if it has been mentioned on ch.com before? I bet it has. There are a lot of "zappers" on the market these days. What is this?!?!

But hey, if I was out of 'trex, I would take several volts of power and some high electrical current during a CH attack if it aborted it. Have any long-term effects of this treatment been done? Do they still do lobotomies?

I keep thinking of that Simpsons episode where they keep shocking each other.....


-Scott

Title: Re: Tens pain management IT WORKS!
Post by Lizzie2 on May 12th, 2004, 7:54am
Is that like the electric stim therapy they use in physical therapy?  I don't know anything about this, but if it's anything like that then HELL NO!  lol

Lizzie

Title: Re: Tens pain management IT WORKS!
Post by floridian on May 12th, 2004, 8:41am

Quote:
BUT there might be a faint possibility of a very slight amount of relief if an individual were getting a great deal of pain from the trigeminal nerve symptoms.


But the painful part of the trigeminal nerve is deep in the head behind the eye and the optic nerve.  Does the TENS penetrate that deep, and what effect does it have on the optic nerve and eye?  If it were strong enough to penetrate through to the trigeminal nerve, would it stop there, or would it also affect the brain?  Not sure about that.

I had TENS for my neck and shoulders, and it was ok.  But that was using the electricity to stimulate the nerves connected to muscles that were locked up.  

Title: Re: Tens pain management IT WORKS!
Post by UN_SOLVED on May 12th, 2004, 12:26pm
I had (strong) neuro-electrodes sticking out of my skull and it didn't help. (ONSI)

Unsolved

Title: Re: Tens pain management IT WORKS!
Post by Charlie on May 12th, 2004, 6:44pm
Nope. Sorry folks. This crapola goes back to the 19th century. Lots of money made with it. Fear is a great motivator.

Charlie

Title: Re: Tens pain management IT WORKS!
Post by miapet on May 12th, 2004, 11:18pm
Actually, the electrical stuff back in the 19th century was a bit different.  You can look in antique books .. .or look up old medical cures .. .Sears and Roebuck (sp?) used to sell them (now they are called Quackeries, then they were called Violet Ray Machines), and they were supposed to cure everything from acne to ulcers . . came with multiple attachments .. .but they were more a static electricity, and didn't penetrate . . though, if held too long in one place, could cause a sunburn type burn .. .I used to buy and sell antiques and collectibles . .and managed to find one (they were still selling them in the 20s)
miapet

Title: Re: Tens pain management IT WORKS!
Post by HypnoticFreddy on May 12th, 2004, 11:57pm
People were very excited about the possibilities of using electricity in many applications in the 19th century.

Perhaps some were looking for a way to make a buck in it. If it meant zapping humans in some fashion to fix some ailment, so be it. As far as zapping CHs, sure.......zap away. Is it any more dangerous than all these meds? I slur words now. That is since Topamax.
Give me the "zapper!"

-Scott



Clusterheadaches.com Message Board » Powered by YaBB 1 Gold - SP 1.3.1!
YaBB © 2000-2003. All Rights Reserved.