TENS Unit for Muscle Pain

Have you tried a TENS unit for muscle pain? If not, you should.

TENS stands for Transcutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulation. It’s a small device that sends currents of electrical energy into your muscles via small pads that are placed on your skin. The pads have an adhesive that allows them to stick directly on the skin so that you can use the device anywhere, even while performing other activities.

I received my first TENS unit about 10 years ago after visiting a physical therapist for lower back and hip pain. The unit had two settings and a range of intensity levels. I found that it helped the pain immensely. Over the years I’ve used the unit for pain in variety of locations. While it typically helps, I did find that it can make my neck pain worse and I can no longer use electrical stimulation at my neck without increasing tightness and pain.

Late last year I was contacted by Utopia Gear, a small company out of Wisconsin that sells a product called the Massage Pro. This is a very updated type of TENS unit with quite a few upgrades from that old unit I’ve been using for years. They sent me a free Massage Pro in exchange for my willingness to share my experience.

First off, I used the unit primarily on my upper back/shoulder area, where I’ve continued to have pain for the last couple of years. The more I use the my right arm the more it hurts and I’ve been using it more lately. So, I had a good reason to give the Massage Pro a good workout.

This unit is pretty cool. It’s much more “high tech” than my old unit. It even has a USB charger (doesn’t everything these days?). But, where it really wins is with the variety of modes. This thing has 12 different modes. Brandon warned me in advance that those with Fibromyalgia typically report that they get the most benefit from modes 4, 9, and 11. He also warned me that he’d probably avoid modes 2 and 3. Of course, being me I had to try them all. And here’s the breakdown.

Mode 1 – While the picture shows this mode being sort of a chop/chop motion. It really just feels more like a pulse. It sends the current in waves for a few seconds then stops for a few seconds then starts again. This mode generally felt pretty good and seemed to help my pain.

Mode 2 – This is one of the modes he suggested those with Fibromyalgia avoid. I can see why. It’s not really great. The image seems to show someone sticking a pin in and out. It really just felt like someone was tapping me repeatedly. It was distracting but not helpful. I can see where if I’d turned it up very high that it might have even been painful.

Mode 3 – Another mode that Brandon suggested we avoid. The image looks like someone is pounding with a fist. It didn’t feel like I was being beaten with a fist but it certainly didn’t feel good. The current made my muscles twitch quite a bit and felt about the same as it does when my muscles twitch on their own.

Mode 4 – This is my favorite mode. This is also the mode most similar to a standard TENS unit. It’s just a constant wave of current. It kicks on and then turns up, then stops then starts over again.

Mode 5 – The image appears to show someone using a ball as a massage tool (or beating you with a ball). It didn’t feel at all like that. It actually did feel pretty good. The speed at which the image showed the ball moving is about the same speed that it feels like the current changes on this mode. Overall, it felt pretty good.

Mode 6 – This one is a much faster mode and more intense. It feels like the current is being zapped in at a stronger rate. The current also seems to vary a lot more. Not bad but not great.

Mode 7 – This was a mode I couldn’t handle. In fact I switched to the next mode about as soon as the current started flowing. This was another one that made me feel like my muscles were twitching and jumping (and this was only at intensity level 2).

Mode 8 – This mode feels like something is pinching my shoulder. And, it’s not even exactly where the pad is located, but rather above it. The current isn’t bad it just doesn’t feel good.

Mode 9 – The image looks like a deep tissue massage (or what I would think of as a deep tissue massage). It’s a little more intense in some ways than some of the others but not bad. It has kind of a pulsing feeling.

Mode 10 – This mode is ok, but doesn’t really feel helpful to me. The image shows a thumb going in and out and that’s kind of how it feels. I guess if you have one specific tight spot and put the pad right on top of it that it might be helpful.

Mode 11 – The image looks like someone is walking on you. It’s not quite that hardcore. It feels pretty good. It’s a slow pulse and not very intense.

Mode 12 – The picture looks like someone is dancing and I have no idea why. The only thing I can figure out is that the pulse beat is similar to a dance beat. It is rather fast and with that fast pulse comes my dancing muscles (I mean twitching muscles). This was another mode that I jumped off about as fast as I switched it on.

I’d say that overall I really like this little unit. Actually, I like it a lot more than my old unit. However, I doubt I’ll use many of the different modes. Most likely I will stick with 1 and 4 as those were my favorites. I may at some point find uses for a few of the others.