Experiences/opinions on TENS machine please

[Nadine216]

OM Blue Earings ... I just wanted to pipe in!! I have not heard about a TENS machine, so I googled it and read "electrical impulse" and just had to shut the darn internet off!!! Do it really work?? Electricution while in labour?? *shiver* I'm one of those who it will not work for ... I will have my baby in the waiting area out of fear of them having to put something that is going to SHOCK me on me!! I have and will not experiance labour, but surely there must be better "pain" control methonds than electricity!!! Ok, electric impluses ...but it still does not take the picture in my head away of my little toe in an electic outlet!! "push hunny, push"

Sorry - I'm being neurotic. Am interessted in how exactly it's helpfull though?

[Ca Plane Pour Moi]

The theory is if you're having electric shocks then the pain centre of the brain is overloaded so you don't feel it.

It's nothing like that. It's like... a gentle pulsing. A soft massage. Your mobile phone on vibrate. It's quite soothing really.

[~Raven~]

Nadine it's not electric shocks! More like impulses that kind of feels like pins and needles and it's fully adjustable for you comfort level. Light for mild contractions and you crank it up as you need to. If you have it on high straight away then it might feel a bit too full on but if you end up using one you'll be surprised at how much you can tolerate the highest setting in the peak of a contraction and it can be comforting!

I found it helpful, especially for my first and second labours. My third labour came on very fast (2 hours in total) and it didn't really help much due to the immediate intensity so I'm undecided whether to use one again. I have a feeling I will though

[BellyBelly]

If you do a search in the labour and birth forum this topic has come up loads, lots of opinions.