Tens unit for Fibro?

[ElementalFlower]

Hey just a quick question. Has anyone tried using a tens unit for their fibro?

My mom uses one for her chronic back pain and finds it really helpful. When I have bad days, she really wants me to try it for relief. My pain is located in smaller, less muscle-y areas (i.e. hands, wrists, knees), so the thought freaks me out a little bit!

 

[sunkacola]

I use a TENS machine for some kinds of pain and it helps. For other kinds, it doesn't. It's not going to harm you, though, so just give it a try, starting with the lowest setting, and experiment with it to see if it helps.
I don't think there's anything that needs to freak you out. the only thing I've heard about using the TENS is not to put the pads on either side of your skull (which seems kind of obvious), and not to put it directly over your heart (ditto). Never heard that it couldn't be used on joints, although in general it's used in muscle areas, as you already know.

It sounds as if your pain is mostly in your joints? I am wondering why your doctor is saying that's fibromyalgia rather than arthritis. (Not questioning their judgement or anything, I am just curious...and you don't need to reply to my curiosity unless you want to!)

 

[johnsalmon]

bit hard to answer - if the pain is actually in the muscle then maybe yes - however if the pain is not in the muscle but in the brain ie the brain is perceiving that the muscle had been hurt in some way but does not send a pain signal down to the muscle then a tens will have no effect - bit like losing a leg - you still feel the pain in it but there are no nerves to transmit the pain signal - so if Fibro is CNS condition then it is possible the pain only exits in the brain so a tens will not help

I have used a tens and it makes no difference to the pain no matter where I put the pads. One day they will find out exactly what fibro is

 

[ElementalFlower]

@sunkacola Thanks for the advice! I may try it next time.

And yeah, that is a totally valid confusion. I think myself, my family, and even my doctor think it's possible that I have RA. When he diagnosed me, he said "this isn't a slam dunk diagnosis," lol, so anything is possible. My issue currently is that I don't display any inflammation on imaging or blood tests. So, even though I responded well to steroids and Diclofenac (which idk if that would be the case for someone with FMS), they don't want to give me anything for RA without evidence. So, I have been put in the fibro box. Unfortunately, I feel like cases like mine probably add to the confusion surrounding FMS.

Genuinely, do people with FMS feel pain in areas that aren't their joints?

 

[sunkacola]

Genuinely, do people with FMS feel pain in areas that aren't their joints?

I think that people with fibromyalgia feel pain any place and everywhere. But I think we hear more on this forum from people who are feeling pain in muscle areas than in joint areas, and yes, that is genuine pain.