How to Heal Using the TENS Portable Recovery Stimulator

A couple of weeks ago we were contacted to try one of the TENS touchscreen stimulators by Auvon, and seeing that half our staff was recovering from some kind of injury, we figured it was fate. And so we accepted the invitation and when it arrived we all hobbled to the mailbox to see who’d get there first.

The last time we reviewed an injury recovery device that received a full thumbs up from the entire staff was the Lumiwave Infrared Therapy Device. But infrared light has been healing people for decades, so a positive review is nothing too amazing. However, TENS units are a bit more controversial.

To be clear, a TENS unit does not itself produce a healing effect, but through the reduction of pain, we found that it enabled a greater degree of physical therapy to be applied to the injury from which we do believe faster healing can result. In our opinion, these devices can be used for both pain reduction and injury recovery.

TENS stands for “Transcutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulation,” and when these electric impulses are focused on an injured muscle it is suggested it can reduce the body’s ability to transmit pain signals, plus stimulate the body’s production of natural endorphins (pain reliever) all in one package. This ‘two-for-one” package sounds great on the box, but what happens when you actually put it to the test?

Getting the Auvon TENS Unit Dialed in

Not to bore you with our injuries, but our test results focused on a strained knee joint from a sports injury, a sore shoulder from lifting weights, a light wrist sprain, and a pulled muscle in the lower back. This is what we brought to the table. What eventually ended up on our table after we opened the box was the Auvon TENS unit itself, 10 reusable adhesive pads, 2 lead wires, 1 USB charging cord, a storage bag, and a manual. And from this, we soon discovered that using it was quite simple.

There is a special setting for each area of your body and you can find it quite easily on its touchscreen, which looks conveniently like an older model iPhone. Just look for the radiating lightning symbols pointing to the body part that needs help. The last two settings are designed for muscle stimulation to help increase strength and speed (we did not test these).

Once you have chosen your muscle zone, you choose between the types of stimulus you want to use (1-4), ranging from prolonged intense stimulus to more gentle pulsing. This is a good time to also choose the set of pads that will cover your injury the best. The Auvon unit comes with 2″ x 2″ pads and 2″ x 4″ pads. You will need to use at least one set of pads for the stimulation to work (one pad is not going to cut it).

From there you decide how long you want the therapy to last (20 minutes is about the minimum to get any results in our opinion), and then you choose the intensity. The electrical stimulation can be a bit uncomfortable if you start too high, so we recommend starting at the very bottom and increasing as you feel ready.

At the lowest setting, the pulse reminded us of being brushed by a feather. At higher settings, the pulses had more of a buzz or tingle and had the potential to become a bit uncomfortable. The key is just to find the right intensity and only increase as you feel you need more (more is not always better here).

It Works!

I have no doubt that every single body will react to electrical stimulation in different ways, but for three members of our staff, those effects were a noticeable reduction in pain.

We were working with 20-minute sessions about three times per day. And this is easy to do considering the pads adhere very well and the control unit can be placed in your pocket during daily activities. We applied therapy while working, shopping at the food market, driving home from work, watching television, or reading a book. And the pads are made from a gel adhesive that can be reactivated by washing or rinsing with water. Each pad has a life of 100 uses or so, so this kit will get you well on your way before you need to start replacing anything.

The manual does not go into detail on the actual methodology or offer a full list of its uses, so we suggest reading up on TENS units in general before really immersing yourself in its therapy. Once you get the idea of how everything works it is more trial and error until you find the best settings for you. We found that each injury responded differently to the stimulus, so it is worth your time to experiment with the different settings available.

The amazing thing about our results is the pain reduction was pretty much instantaneous from our first trial. This decrease in pain was light in some injuries and more noticeable in others and lasted for a few hours. Once the pain started to creep back in another session was in order to prolong its effects. Note that none of us had any serious long-term injuries, so the idea of the body becoming numb to the effects over time is not known, but for the vast majority of people looking for relief from those occasional aches and pains, we feel this is well worth your consideration for the price.

The list of pain this unit has the potential to cover includes just about every large (and small) muscle you can think of, including injuries to your joints. What you do need to be aware of is that electric pulses can have negative effects in areas of your chest (near your heart), head (brain and swallow muscles), and potentially your feet. This is where reading up on TENS units, in general, will be helpful if not mandatory. But is worth the time invested.

A Word on the Battery

Auvon makes it clear that its battery is long-lasting, and to this, we can attest. We were able to do this entire review on a single charge. Each 20-minute session uses very little of the available power, and depending on the length of your sessions, we could see this lasting easily up to a month on a single charge.

Auvon, thank you for making our lives a bit less painful over this last month, and if you are interested in a TENS unit for yourself you can find it here.

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