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Written by Mita Majumdar
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Tuesday, 17 June 2008
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Transcutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulation Therapy is a pain management therapy which uses mild electrical impulses to stimulate nerves. TENS therapy blocks pain signals before they can be received by the brain. TENS therapy is known to be particularly effective in reducing pain and inflammation associated with Rheumatoid Arthritis.
According to a study published in the Reumatizam journal, 33 patients (26 women and 7 men) with rheumatoid arthritis were given ST-TENS (standard or conventional TENS, also known as C-TENS) at the selected joint and AL-TENS (acupuncture like TENS) at the contra-lateral joint respectively. Treatment continued for 12 days. It was found that there was no statistical difference between AL-TENS and ST-TENS regarding the reduction of pain level and the initiation of analgesic effect, although a slightly longer hypo-algesic effect of AL-TENS was noted.
The Cochrane review, however, concludes that effect of TENS on pain outcomes in rheumatoid arthritis patients shows conflicting results. Three clinical trials involving 78 patients with rheumatoid arthritis were reviewed in which AL-TENS and C-TENS (conventional TENS or ST-TENS) were compared to a placebo and to each other. It was found that AL-TENS could reduce pain intensity and improve muscle power as compared to C-TENS and placebo, but C-TENS resulted in clinically important benefit of C-TENS over AL-TENS on patient assessment of change in disease.
References
1. Grazio S, Grubisić F, Jajić Z.: Comparison of standard and acupuncture methods of transcutaneous electric nerve stimulation (TENS) in patients with rheumatoid arthritis. Reumatizam. 2003; 50(1):18-22.
2.http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15072038?ordinalpos=1&itool=EntrezSystem2.PEntrez.Pubmed.Pubmed_ResultsPanel.Pubmed_DiscoveryPanel.Pubmed_Discovery_RA&linkpos=4&log$=relatedarticles&logdbfrom=pubmed
3. Brosseau L, Yonge KA, Robinson V, Marchand S, Judd M, Wells G, Tugwell P: Transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS) for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis in the hand. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews 2003, Issue 3. Art. No.: CD004377. DOI: 10.1002/14651858.CD004377
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