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Transcutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulation

  • Reference work entry
Encyclopedia of Pain

Synonyms

AL-TENS (acupuncture-like TENS); Electrical therapy; TENS

Definition

Transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS) is a means of relieving pain. It entails delivering an electrical stimulus through electrodes to the skin overlying or near the region in which pain is perceived. The stimulus is delivered from a battery-driven generator.

Characteristics

TENS is a commonly used noninvasive modality that provides an alternative to medication for pain relief. It has been used for more than 30 years, but its effectiveness remains controversial.

Mechanism

TENS was developed on the basis of the gate control theory of pain proposed by Melzack and Wall (1965). This theory predicted that stimulation of large-diameter primary afferent fibers (A fibers) would have an inhibitory effect on transmission from the small-diameter, unmyelinated afferent fibers (C fibers). Accordingly, pain should be relieved if cutaneous afferents from a region of pain could be artificially stimulated using...

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References

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. North Shore Hospital, Auckland, New Zealand

    James Watt

Authors
  1. James Watt
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to James Watt .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Anesthesiology, Center for Pain Research, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, USA

    Gerald F. Gebhart

  2. Physiologisches Institut der, Universität Würzburg, Würzburg, Germany

    Robert F. Schmidt

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© 2013 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

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Watt, J. (2013). Transcutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulation. In: Gebhart, G.F., Schmidt, R.F. (eds) Encyclopedia of Pain. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-28753-4_4555

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