Pain Treatment by Transcutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulation (TENS)

1 The Neurophysiology of Pain.- Pain Receptors.- Pain Nerves.- Dermatomes and Myotomes.- Transmission in the Spinal Cord.- Ascending Pathways.- Pain from Different Organ Systems.- Physiological Mechanisms of Pain Control.- 2 Transcutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulation.- General Principles for the Use of TENS.- Indications for the Use of TENS.- General Characteristics of TENS Units.- Conventional High-Frequency TENS.- Alternative Modes of TENS.- The Neural Mechanisms of TENS in Alleviating Pain.- Electrodes and Electrode Placements.- Side Effects and Counterindications of TENS.- 3 TENS in Different Pain Syndromes.- Post-operative Pain.- Neck and Shoulder Pain.- Low Back Pain.- Arthritic Pain.- Pain in the Chest.- Fracture Pain.- Deafferentation Pain.- Trigeminal Neuralgia.- Central Pain.- Phantom Pain.- Vascular Pain.- Headaches.- Dental Pain.- Cancer Pain.- Dysmenorrhea.- Labour Pain.- Bladder Pain.- Pancreatic Pain.- Psychogenic Pain.- 4 Additional Areas of Application of TENS and Different Modes of Electrical Stimulation.- Sports Medicine.- Improvement of Muscle Function.- Wound and Fracture Healing.- Treatment of Venous Stasis.- Pruritus.