Tens (nursal) machines

castle96

.... for pain relief. Are these any good or just snake oil? How do the pads attach to your skin?? They cannot be self-adhesive surely. Any experience or recommendations please

MovingForwards

I wouldn't function without mine when I'm really bad. Feels like a mini massage, but without the physical touching which would be painful! I'm also on prescription meds.

The pads have a sticky substance which gently sticks to your skin, you peel them off and put them back on the plastic ready for using the next day.

The Lloyds chemist one is good, as are the sticky pads. I've had it for years £20.

I'd avoid the rechargeable ones and go with battery operated, at least you can quickly swap the batteries over to new ones rather than waiting for the whole thing to charge.

castle96

so you have to keep buying sticky pads? Cost? How long do they last. Just normalbatteries?

MovingForwards

Depending on the maker the pads could be reused for a few days or several months. A bit of surgical tape (approx £1) keeps them on even if the sticky doesn't stick any more.

Pads can be 99p to £6, for a set, or £12 for several sets, depends where you buy them from.

The batteries are normal skinny ones, Walkman type or 9v square, depending on which one you buy. If you've got a battery charger already, buy rechargeable batteries.

Floss

castle96 said:

.... for pain relief. Are these any good or just snake oil? How do the pads attach to your skin?? They cannot be self-adhesive surely. Any experience or recommendations please

Definitely not snake oil, they were being brought in for childbirth when I had my boys in the 1980s and I found them invaluable. My mum used one while awaiting spinal surgery in 2000 and she was very grateful for it.

turnitround

I tried one when I had a back problem but found it no help at all. What I can say is that I work in a charity shop and we get lots of them donated. These, along with Foot Spa's come in regularly and neither sell very well. Could you borrow one first to try before buying?

Murphybear

I think it’s a bit like acupuncture, it works for some people but not others.  When I had knee surgery in the 80s the physios used one but it didn’t make any difference.  

Mnoee

I'm using one on my dodgy hand right now! Lloyds one, I bought a stack of extra pads off amazon (8 sets of two for about £7), and use rechargeable aaa batteries in it. Pads last months with daily usage for me - clean and dry the area first! 

It really works well for me as I can't take ibuprofen regularly due to other meds and paracetamol wasn't doing a thing. 

The Lloyds one is £12.59, or £16.49 for dual channel at the moment - including batteries that's under £20 to give it a go - I'm glad I did. 

ladiessalon

I tried one when I had a back problem but found it no help at all. What I can say is that I work in a charity shop and we get lots of them donated. These, along with Foot Spa's come in regularly, and neither sell very well. Could you borrow one first to try it before buying? You try 

grandadgolfer

Most people self included swear by them and the pads last a decent amount of time and are relatively cheap to buy from ebay/amazon, but a few people say they are useless and offer no relief

superstylin

I have one for endometriosis pain. It took a few attempts at getting the pads positioned correctly and trying the different programs but it definitely helps. To me it feels like the slight buzzing sensation you get is overriding the pain sensation, like your brain can't comprehend both.