My lower back is having muscle spasms again. TENS therapy has taken care of it in the past, and there are a bunch of these units being advertised for personal use. Has anyone purchased any of the sub $100 units and did they work to expectation?
I have one I got off Amazon. I love it. Not as much juice as the one at my chiropractors office, but does what i expected it to. I use it all the time. The only tricky thing is figuring out the pad placement. If you are off a little bit, it's going to zap you a little.
I have this one off Amazon and it's a lifesaver for me. I have occasional muscle spasms mid-back and sometimes this thing is the only relief. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B019P8T9ZY/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
I made a post about this a while ago. This is what I use, not exactly a TENS unit and definitely not sub-$100 price range, as far as I can understand this EMS unit does that plus more intense muscle strength/endurance programs that you can run as well. http://forums2.13x.com/index.php?threads/electronic-muscle-stimulating-ems-units.334418/
TENS is a pain blocking device, using the "gate theory" of pain. It's not therapeutic, like some other electrical muscle stimulation devices you see in the PT, Chiro or medical areas. You know when you hit your thumb and you squeeze it or rub it? That is the gate theory. The brain can only process one signal at a time. As the mechanical stimulation travels faster that the pain signal (C fibers to get technical) and the mechanical stimulation arrives first to the brain, the brain processes that instead of the pain response. Some people get these embedded around the spine for chronic pain control measures when all else has failed. It is good for pain control, but it wont do anything to correct any issue that may be causing the pain. Good news is that natural resolution of many complaints has pain go away after a couple of weeks or months. TENS units are cheap and available over the counter. Don't ever let a PT or DC charge your insurance $800-1200 for these units.......which is common to see them bill your insurance that much for something you can get at Walgreens. TENS may not do much for muscle spasms. Its just the mechanical vibrations of sort, that could with time knock them down, but they may be better ways.