World Fibromyalgia Day takes place on May 12, a disease that mainly affects women between the ages of 20 and 50 and whose most characteristic symptom and that interferes the most with the daily activities of patients is chronic musculoskeletal pain. Transcutaneous electrical neurostimulation or TENS is a therapeutic option that can replace the drugs used to alleviate this discomfort, although there is controversy about its efficacy because the results of the studies that have been carried out to date are not homogeneous due to the fact that in them Different doses of this treatment have been applied.
Physiotherapy researchers from the CEU Cardenal Herrera University (CEU UCH) in Valencia have carried out a review of the 11 most relevant clinical trials in this field and have thus managed to identify the optimal dose parameters that guarantee the efficacy of this technique in fibromyalgia patients. Their results have been published in Pain, the official journal of the International Association for the Study of Pain (IASP).
“Transcutaneous electrical neurostimulation, or TENS, consists of applying small electrical impulses of low intensity with a device for home use, to stimulate peripheral nerves through electrodes placed on the skin and, with this, activate the powerful analgesic mechanisms of the available to our central nervous system (spine and brain). However, there is no scientific consensus on the efficacy or the adequate doses to apply this technique in people with fibromyalgia, to treat their muscle pain. For this reason, we saw it necessary to carry out a review of the clinical trials published to date to determine which parameters of the doses applied in the studies made TENS capable of successfully treating these symptoms of fibromyalgia”, explained the professor of Physiotherapy at the CEU UCH, Juan José Amer.
“Transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation can effectively reduce pain in fibromyalgia patients when applied under certain conditions”
The researchers looked at a number of parameters, such as the frequency and intensity of TENS treatment, the area of application, and the number of sessions that had produced the best results in fibromyalgia patients to determine the correct dose. “The meta-analysis carried out on these studies has allowed us to confirm that transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation can effectively reduce pain in patients with fibromyalgia when applied under certain conditions”, emphasizes Professor Amer.
Effectively treat musculoskeletal pain without drugs
The results of the research reveal that the clinical trials that have achieved a greater reduction in pain with TENS in patients with fibromyalgia have been those in which the treatment has been applied with a high frequency, between 100 and 200 Hz, or with a frequency mixed, combining between low and high frequency in the same treatment session. In addition, the high intensity has been the most effective, individually adjusting it between “strong, but comfortable” and “the highest tolerable, but without causing pain”.
The researchers also found that in long-term interventions that included 10 or more TENS sessions, this technique was also more effective in reducing pain in people with fibromyalgia. All these findings have allowed these scientists to develop a protocol for the correct intervention with TENS in these patients, which can serve as a guide for new studies on effective therapeutic alternatives in other musculoskeletal conditions that cause chronic pain.
“Alleviating the symptoms in people suffering from fibromyalgia with the introduction of effective non-pharmacological techniques against pain is essential to improve their quality of life. The autonomous use of a TENS device, with the appropriate indications of intensity, frequency, location and number of sessions that we have identified, guarantee its effectiveness. In addition, it is a low-cost treatment that lacks the side effects that pharmacological treatments can have, so in the application conditions that we have determined, it is confirmed as an adequate option to treat pain in people. with fibromyalgia”, according to the study authors.
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