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CHAPTER 10 : PARAMETER CONTROLS
stimulating directly through the area of pain or localized enervation), a
quick pulse rate (setting greater than 80Hz on the Pulse Rate Control) is
desired. The patient should not perceive individual pulses but rather have
the sensation of steady continuous stimulation.
Despite above recommendations, these individual patients may require
slight variations of the above settings, according to the nature of their
condition.
TREATMENT MODE
Normal or Conventional TENS offers the practitioners complete control over
all the various treatment parameters of the instrument.
Burst Mode is analogous to the Low Rate TENS technique except the low
frequency individual pulses are replaced by individual “bursts” of 7-10
individual pulses. It is thus a combination of Conventional TENS and
Low Rate TENS. In Burst Mode, the treatment frequency is fixed by the
instrument and is not adjustable with the Frequency Rate control.
Modulated Mode attempts to prevent nerve accommodation by continuously
cycling the treatment intensity. When using Modulated Mode increase the
intensity only when the unit is at the maximum intensity of the modulation
cycle. If the intensity is increased during a low intensity period of the cycle,
the patient may turn up the control very slowly, so that they may feel the
intensity any higher.
TIME DURATION
The onset of pain relief should occur shortly after the intensity setting has
been determined. However, in some cases, pain relief may take as long as
30 minutes to achieve. TENS units are typically operated for long periods
of time, with a minimum of 20 – 30 minutes and in some post-operation
protocols, as long as 36 hours.
In general, pain relief will diminish within 30 minutes of the cessation of
stimulation.
