TES and pain?

[francine]

TES does NOT cause any muscle contraction....nor is it painful...it is slight buzz used to the child's own tolerance level. This is the e-stim that is worn by the child all night long for purposes of bringing increased circulation - so that atrophied muscle has a chance of a come-back.

NMES can be tolerated by most children (without sensory issues) if done correctly and if you are using a machine that is considered to be the less painful than the rest. Of course distraction works well, too.

Karleen- I have a full comparison of NMES versus TES on my estim page - look at the summary in the dark blue box.

http://www.injurednewborn.com/maia/estim.html

hope this helps,
keep on asking us questions - those who are using NMES will most certainly come forward to answer more for you,
francine

[browning93]

I am an advocate for TES. My daughter is 5 1/2 and has used it since she was 25 months old.We saw more recovery after we started the TES and continued to do so even without formal therapy for 2 years. I excercised her at home and used the TES at night. The settings are adjustable and if it hurts it is niot being done properly. Michaela had surgery in February and didn't use her TES for 4 weeks. She missed it. She told me so, and she said her arm feels so much better with it on. Believe it or not, I think she is so used to it, that she actually sleeps better now that she's using it again. Michaela had such atrophy before and now her arm has so much more muscle bulk than before it looks like her right arm except for the length and wrist. We haven't used the TES on the wrist yet but will be soon. Just remember if the nerves are being stimulated and there is new muscle growth and therefore strength then there will be new ability for new movement.LeeAnne

[karen r]

We've used both TES (nighttime) and NMES (daytime) e-stim for over a year now. The TES should not hurt the child at all. It's like a butterfly flutter. (I always try these things on myself and my two older kids before doing it on my daughter who started it at 2 1/2 yrs.) She doesn't mind it at all and, like Leanne, I think she sleeps better with it.

The NMES is very different because it causes a muscle contraction. There has to be innervation there to begin with. A skilled doctor or therapist is necessary with this kind of treatment or damage could be done to the child. We use it 1x or 2x a day for 20 minutes (we worked up to 20 minutes) but it's not at a very high setting. We have it at the lowest setting to get an effect. It's uncomfortable and I know if I accidentally adjust it too high. It brings my daughter to tears. You have to be sooooo careful with it and can't snooze for a moment while administering it. Even after a year I still have to pay close attention.

Francine's site is a good introduction to e-stim. It can be very effective if used properly!