Transcutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulation - TENS

Transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS) is a non-invasive approach that came into use in the 1970s and may inhibit pain signals by stimulating areas beneath the skin. Compact, portable, battery-operated units deliver stimulation through electrode patches. TENS may be effective for some patients to relieve muscle spasms, postoperative pain, osteoarthritis, and chronic musculoskeletal pain.

Reviewed March 4, 2012
Lawrence Poree, MD, PhD
Member, International Neuromodulation Society
Professor, University of California School of Medicine, Department of Anesthesia, San Francisco CA, USA

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