Anyone using a muscle stimulator?

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BlueAtlas

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My PM lent me an electronic muscle stimulator yesterday to try out. I'm using it on my upper back and lower back. It's a lot like a TENS unit, except it's supposed to have lasting therapeutic value. I was told to use it for 40 minutes twice a day, whether it was a good day or a bad day. My insurance will not cover it, and it's $2400! I see them online for a lot less, $100-$200, so I guess I'd want to know what the big difference is between those and the one I'm borrowing.

Has anyone else used one of these, and did it help?

Thanks,
Emily
 
Emily,

please let me know how this working for you and also I am very curious to find out what is the difference between them except the price.
Obviously has to be a catch since the price is so much higher on the one you got for now.

I hope it will work well for you; I am very interested in one and I want to hear all about it from you.

Thank you !!:)
 
I'm still not sure that it's doing anything at all. I discovered that my first TENS unit, which I didn't like because the knobs jutted out and were too easy to bump and get a big jolt, is actually also a muscle stimulator. I tried using the expensive one for half of a treatment one day and then switching to the cheap one. The expensive one was a lot better, but not $2400 worth better! It was smoother and gave a steadier, more comfortable impulse. But the cheap unit was fine, too.

It is a strange sensation. You can see it pull my shoulders up as it stimulates the muscles. But I don't think it's doing anything more than the machines at the gym do. In fact, the little spot that's been bothering me since the fusion surgery has acted up again. It's a little spot on the back of one shoulder that feels like someone's sticking pins in it. Youch! It hadn't bothered me in several months, but since I've been using the muscle stimulator, it's bothering me again. Hmmmm. Doesn't impress me!

I had to give the loaner unit back, and I'll confess that I've been a bad patient since then. It's rather a pain in the neck, and I just don't think it's doing much, if anything. I kinda feel like it was the PM's way of saying there's nothing else he can do for me. He didn't even come back in the room. He just said he was going to see if the rep was still around, left to go find her, she came in and showed me the unit, and then she had to go find him to ask when he wanted me to come back. He sent a message back to return on an as-needed basis. I felt like he never really finished my appt. Oh well, I didn't like his office anyway. I'm glad not to go back!

I guess I should keep using this thing for a while just to give it a fair shake. It just seems like a waste of time. I'll let you know if it starts actually having an effect.

Emily
 
Interesting. I love my tens unit. I am curious about the muscle stimulator and what the difference is. With the relief I get from the tens unit, I am wondering if the muscle stimular would work for me too. At this point, I will try anything.

If anyone else has any feedback, please chime in.
 
I used one of these things lent to me be a woman who had gone through what I was going through at the time. And I will say straight up it did nothing for me apart from make me fell sick. So I stopped using it and I just put up with the pain.
But I hope this doesn't stop you from using it as it might work for you.
Oh I have to say here to that when I get into my sons car he has a very loud sound system in it with one of thoise thump thump things. And I have had to tell him to turn it down as it vibrated in my back and I feel ill with that to. So now even before I get in he has it turned down.
 
Pepper, I love my TENS, too. I got a second one from an online auction. I had actually bought the paRAB, but the seller mentioned that she also had a TENS unit because she had good insurance that had bought her another one. The TENS does require a prescription, so it isn't allowed on the auction site. I can understand that, but I did have a prescription, so I had no ethical problem with buying one by e-mail from the seller. This one is much better than the one with the knobs jutting out of the front that are so easy to bump.

When I use the muscle stimulator, I sit there thinking that the TENS is much better. The muscle stim just contracts and releases the muscle. It doesn't give me near the pain relief that the TENS does.

Tattman, I'm glad to hear it's not just me! :)

Emily :wave:
 
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