Comparison of the effective intensity of transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation contralateral to a pain site for analgesia.
Hirobumi Kawamura, Morihiro Tsujishita
PMID 36213189WHAT IT FOUND
Applying strong TENS to the opposite wrist eased experimental heat pain more than doing nothing, but it was no better than a comfortable intensity.
No change in heart-rate variability was seen. This is a small lab study in healthy women.
Key findings
01Pain scores were significantly lower with maximum-pain TENS intensity than with no TENS control, but did not differ significantly from comfortable or pain-threshold intensities.
02No significant differences were found in heart rate variability measures of autonomic nervous system activity between the control and any TENS intensity.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for PTsWhat it means for OTs
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What it does not show
The study was conducted on healthy young women with experimentally induced heat pain, not on patients with clinical pain conditions. Only ten participants were studied. The TENS application lasted only 60 seconds, which is much shorter than typical clinical treatment durations. The study did not compare different frequencies or waveforms, only intensities.
Declared interests
The authors declared no conflict of interest and the research did not receive external funding.
The easy way to misread this
Do not read the significant reduction in pain scores from the maximum-pain TENS as evidence that this intensity is superior to comfortable TENS. The study found no significant difference between the maximum-pain intensity and the comfortable intensity, and the entire experiment was conducted in healthy volunteers with acute heat pain, not in patients with chronic conditions.