Question about tens machine?!

Question about tens machine?

I HAVE JUST BOUGHT A TENS MACHINE. Can you tell me if you have one ? And how affective is it .Ibought mine for low back pain .Thanks in ad vance .

What is TENS?


TENS stands for Transcutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulation. A TENS machine consists of a small box, about the size of an audio-cassette case with a clip on the back so you can attach it to the belt of your dressing gown (or whatever you are wearing in labour). The machine gives out little pulses of electrical energy. Leading out of the box are four wires connected to sticky pads. You place the pads on your back - get your midwife or birth companion to do this for you. If your birth companion is helping you, he or she should follow the instructions which you will have received with the TENS machine.

Two of the pads are placed on either side of your spine at about bra-strap level. The other two go lower down, at about the level of the dimples in your bottom. The pads are covered in a gel to help the electrical pulses pass through your skin more easily. The TENS machine has dials that you can adjust to control the frequency and strength of the pulses. There's also a boost button for you to hold in your hand and press when you want maximum output from the machine to help you with a difficult contraction.

What are the advantages?


• Portable, non-invasive and entirely under your control

• Easy to use

• Doesn't stop you being mobile

• Use it for as long as you want and then take it off - no lasting side-effects

• Not thought to have any effect on babies

• Can be used for a home birth


What are the disadvantages?


• May only help in the first half of labour and become rather irritating when contractions get really strong

• Costs between £20 and £30 to hire for a month

• May have to be removed for electronic monitoring of your baby's heart, although the risk of TENS interfering with a fetal heart monitor has been described by one midwifery textbook as only 'slight'. Taking the machine off interrupts the release of endorphins

• If you want to use a birthing pool, you can use TENS before you get in the water, but not when you are in the pool

• Makes it more difficult for your birth companion to massage your back, which is a really excellent form of pain relief.


Any useful tips?


• There are lots and lots of different TENS units available for hire. Ask your friends or your midwife (even better, an obstetric physiotherapist) to help you choose.

• Start with the controls at their lowest settings and turn them up gradually as your contractions get stronger.

• Take the pads off every three hours and smear them again with gel before reapplying them. This ensures that the contact with your back is really good.

• Keep mobile. Being mobile during labour helps women feel more in control and should therefore enhance the effect of TENS.

• If you don't think it's helping you, take it off and don't feel bad. You've lost nothing (except your hire fee). All other forms of pain-relief, both medical and non-medical, are still open to you.