Santamedical Electronic Tens Pulse Massager: Reviewed

I have had lower back pain most of my life, and being someone who does not like taking strong medicine (and rarely taking even otc pain medicine) I like to look for more natural and drug free methods.  Several years ago I had started visiting a chiropractor once a week and it helped greatly.  After a while though, our insurance had changed and so I weened myself off the adjustments and light massage.  I recently had the opportunity to review a TENS unit, or Transcutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulator from Santamedical.  I had used a TENS unit previously while at the chiropractor and then later had gotten one through our insurance company years ago.  The device worked well but it was very basic and only had intensity options with no specialty settings.  The Santamedical unit is the size and appearance of what a long tv remote looks like, and has several different buttons and settings.  I like how many selections it has on it for targeting specific areas of the body and how lightweight the controller is. 

This handy device is programmed for 15 minutes at a time before turning itself off.  It stimulates muscles through electric current.  It sounds scary, but it really isn't.  Start with a low setting, and work up to the number your perfect setting.  I won't sugar coat it, it can REALLY hurt if you accidentally turn it UP instead of down, so be careful not to do setting/intensity adjustments without looking at the dial.  That brings up a great point, while I am loving this machine, I do not like how the buttons are not lit up.  I was using this at night on the couch while watching a movie and it was hard to see the number setting with only the tv glow.  I learned the hard way and turned it up too fast and it was very uncomfortable.  I also would have liked their to be and automatic shut off feature to save on the battery life.  After the 15 minutes of my massage, I removed the tens and set it aside on the couch.  An hour later I realized that I forgot to turn the dial to the OFF position. 

I tried this on my lower back a few times, and found my perfect setting to be 4 on both sides and to use either the massage or kneading button.  This unit features six auto modes (stimulation programs), and you can adjust the speed and intensity. The "Knead" feature is used for a deeper massage to relieve knots and deep soreness vs the "massage" being a lighter option.  I did not like the "Beat" option as it felt like a wet towel being snapped / whipped onto my back.  My husband tried the "Joint" and "Shoulder" options on his upper back and shoulder/lower neck area.  He seemed to like those and used the 3 setting on both. I want to note, that if you are going to share TENS units, you may want your own set of gel pads.  This unit comes with 4, all of which get used at the same time unless you only use 2 electrodes per person (at the same time).  I tested the unit first then let my husband take over the gel pads as the final tester.  I will need to purchase another set.  I want to note that he has a lot of hair on his back and the gel pads had some trouble sticking to him after being used once by me.  They are still sticky, but we had to really press them down and then had him sit with his back against the couch to keep them on securely.  For best results with treatment, it is important to place pads above and below the targeted area.  

What comes in the box:

4 Attachment pads
4 AAA batteries (no wall charger)
Manual
TENS unit

Overall Thoughts:

My husband and I are impressed with this TENS. I really like how the batteries are included and how many settings it has. This is a great unit for relieving stress, muscle soreness and stiffness, and chronic pain. I would have liked it to include a wall charger and for the buttons have a back light with n additional visual showing which setting it is currently on (besides the picture on the screen).

 

For more information about the Santamedical company, you can visit their website. 

I received one or more of the products mentioned above for free using Tomoson.com. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers.