TENS Unit Pad Placement: 10 Tips for Effective Use

Follow these 10 helpful tips to alleviate pain with TENS Therapy.

Do you experience muscular pain? It's likely that an accident, strain, or overuse caused your muscular soreness. Today, many people use TENS units to treat muscle discomfort in their arms, hips, and lower back. An all-encompassing treatment plan created by a physical therapist like myself, a doctor, or a chiropractor may include using a TENS unit at home. These experts are familiar with the musculoskeletal system and are skilled at applying the electrode pads to your skin to provide the best possible pain relief.

TENS stands for transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation

Additionally, you can purchase a TENS unit over the counter (OTC) from your neighbourhood pharmacy or an At Home TENS Unit online from a reputable seller. You might not feel confident placing the electrode pads without the guidance and instruction of a healthcare professional. With some expert guidance on where to put the electrode pads, I'd want to relieve some of your concerns.

In order to obtain the best degree of pain relief with TENS, we recommend the following TENS pad placement guidelines:

• Take note of exactly where your pain is located. Outline the most concise and tender area of the pain.
• Always use two pads (one channel) or four pads (two channels) at the same time depending upon the type of TENS unit that you have as it will not work with just one pad.
• You can alter the flow of the electrical sensation if you change the distance between the electrode pads and/or the direction of the pads.
• The pads can be placed in one of three directions 1. vertical 2. horizontal 3. angulated.
• The pads should never touch and should be at least, 1 inch apart. As the distance between the two pads increases the effectiveness decreases.
• It is advisable not to place the pads directly over a joint such as the knee, elbow or ankle as its movement can alter the adherence of the pad.
• When the pain extends across a significant distance of your body (e.g. low back to just above the back of the knee): Place one of the pads vertically at the top of the pain and the other pad vertically at the bottom of the pain.
• When the pain is more focused over a smaller area (e.g. calf pain): Place pads in parallel on each side of the pain.
• When the pain overlaps a joint (e.g. elbow pain): Place each pad on the muscle or soft tissue just above and below the joint in a horizontal and parallel direction.
• When the pain is wide (e.g. between your shoulders below the neck): Place the pads to the left and right side of your spine in a vertical direction. If pain extends out even further above or below the shoulder area, the pads can be angulated to encompass the region of discomfort.