Both are very helpful, if you can get your insurance company to allow you to have one or the other it will be very good for you. You should also be given a prescription muscle relaxer to assist the tens or ems in the job it is trying to do. There are many different muscle relaxers our there, I have used the majority and now I am back with the old flexeril because it seems to be decent.

If the doc prescribes something like soma (carisopridol) it is an excellent medicine but do not under any circumstance try to drive or work until you get used to the affects of the medicine, I am a drummer and the first time I took soma, the band was just staing at me tring to figure out what was wrong with me. It is a great med but man it will really scare you because it makes you feel totally out of control for about 30 mins.

Good luck,
-brian

I dont have insurance right now. I lost my job 3 months ago. I have taken muscle relaxers in the past but never noticed any real gains with them. I have seen machines that are tens and ems combo machines but not sure how well they work. They seem like a good idea to be but looking for someone that has experience with either machine. Thanks for the reply.


Mark

I have used the tens and muscle relaxers alone and combined. When used together they are an excellent combination. When used alone, most of the time neither will be very helpful.

Good luck
brian

I have had a tens machine for about 4 years now & find that it sometimes works for me - & sometimes it dosen't. Sorry to be so vague but I find it is very hit or miss. It seems to work when i'm not at my worst or if my sciatica is playing up - but on really bad days it can make me feel a little sick. The first time I ever heard of one was when a physio "plugged" me in. Might be worth trying to see if you can find a physio etc. Who uses them & trying one before buying. Hope this helps & good luck. Ali.

I got low back pain but for now its under control but sometimes it just pops up to make me uncomfortable. I do get neck pain sometime but if I keep doing mhy excercies they seem to be ok. Right now I get a muscle spasms, or muscle pulls and I feel my back muscles are quite weak . Will using a ems help my back muscles to relax and regain stregth ?.

I see a no of people in thie forum posted that they use ems. I would like to know what brands models etc is being used so I can look for htem in the market. When I search for ems I see anywere from 50$ that runs on batteries to 400$ or so, I dont know which ones are good, which is recommended etc. Can those who have give me me some names, models etc ?

Thanks

Also one more question on ems. The only place I have seen a ems is with my chiro. Otherwise I am not able to goto a shop to see the box, read abt it etc. Is there any shop that sells ems so I cna go take a look etc, ? So far I can only seem them in internet shops which shows pictures, but I dont know how big ,small or effective they are ?. Also is there ones like that can be directly plugged to the wall, instead of batteries etc ?
Rgds

I have a tens unit at home I first used a ems tens combo machine at physical therapy. It would give me relief while it was on and for only about i5 minutes after. There machine was really powerful and the had to turn it up pretty high for me they also use the same machine for muscles that have atrophied. Anyway I talked to my general practioner and he gave me a perscription for one. In the town I live in our hospital has a seperate store for health care products.You can check with your local hospitals to see if they have one where you can check one out in person. The one I have at home does not help me very much though it is by rehabilicare maxima 2 that is the only one my insurance would cover hope this helps some oh and mine is a tens ems is for muscle.