Working in a physical therapy office, I see a lot of back pain. Some days, it feels like that’s all we treat. Recently I looked at statistics to confirm what I was seeing is true. A recent study found that up to 84% of adults will have low back pain, 23% of those will develop chronic low back pain that lasts more than a month and 48% will have pain that lasts even longer.

1. TENS
TREATMENT
FOR
BACK PAIN
PROHEALTHCAREPRODUCTS.COM

2. Working in a physical therapy office, I see a lot of back pain. Some
days, it feels like that’s all we treat. Recently I looked at statistics to
confirm what I was seeing is true.
A recent study found that up to 84% of adults will have low back
pain, 23% of those will develop chronic low back pain that lasts
more than a month and 48% will have pain that lasts even longer.

3. Low back pain is an epidemic and is a major cause for disability,
workplace absenteeism and use of health care services (like
physical therapy).
And it makes sense, up to 80% of our workforce has sedentary,
desk jobs which places excessive stress on back and hips.
Unfortunately, this isn’t going to change.

4. As someone working in physical therapy looking to treat low back
pain it becomes important to have many tools to draw on because
each case of back pain will resolve differently.

5. Primarily, I’m a manual therapist. I like to feel the muscles to get a
sense of what’s going on. While manual therapy (massage) and
joint mobilizations can help decrease pain, these modalities are not
always appropriate for acute pain.
That’s where having a modality that can decrease pain in a gentle
way is a necessary tool in the “treating back pain” toolbox.

6. TENS UNIT
FOR
LOW BACK
PAIN

7. The use of TENS units date back to the 1960s with the introduction
of the gate control theory of pain. According to the theory,
stimulating nerves closes a "gate" mechanism in the spinal cord,
and that can help eliminate the sensation of pain.
TENS, or transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation, is aback
treatment modality that uses low voltage electric current to relieve
pain.

8. TENS treatments are typically done with a TENS unit, a small
battery-operated device. During a TENS treatment for back pain, two
electrodes are placed on the skin over an area of pain in the back.
The electrodes send electrical impulses from the TENS unit to the
skin that travel along nerve fibers and create a tingling sensation.

9. Patients report feeling less pain when the impulses are
delivered, because stimulating the nerves blocks other pain
signals and helps the body produce endorphins, the body’s
natural painkillers.

10. TENS UNIT
PLACEMENT
FOR
BACK PAIN

11. Many electrode sites are identical regardless of diagnosis. For
example, a patient who has a cervical strain would use the same
placement as a patient with cervical arthritis.
However, there are some guidelines for placement regarding the
type of pain experienced.

12. FOR RADIATING PAIN:
Place the electrodes (not directly on) but near the spine, on
either side.

13. FOR SPECIFIC JOINT OR DISTAL ARM PAIN:
Place the electrodes nearer the area of pain.

14. FOR DEEP PAIN OF MYOTOME OR SCLEROTOME
ORIGIN:
place the electrodes several spinal segments more proximal
than the segmental innervations shown.

15. See our
TENs Electrode Placement Guide
for more

16. Using a TENS unit might seem counter-intuitive to a hands-on
therapist. However, the instant relief, ease and efficiency of use
make a TENS unit a handy tool. In acute cases, it can lower acute
pain in order to allow for additional modalities and facilitate faster
healing.
Statistics show that low back pain isn’t going away. As such,
physical therapists need more tools in their toolbox to fix it.

17. Shop ProHealthcareProducts.com