Supplement
Electric nerve stimulation uses a small device to send mild electrical pulses through the skin, which is thought to interrupt pain signals traveling along nerves and to nudge the body's own pain-dampening pathways. People mostly look at it for chronic pain, and trials found pain intensity went down by a moderate amount compared with placebo, and also compared with standard care treatments. Even so, the evidence is limited, and the results came mainly from the period during or just after treatment, so they say little about lasting relief.
- Updated
- How we grade
- 3 studies cited
- Best evidence
- Grade C
- Conditions studied
- 1
- Outcomes
- 2
- Graded outcomes
- 0020
Evidence by condition
- Strong
- Moderate
- Limited
- Very limited
| Grade | Outcome | Effect | Size | Studies | People | Studies list |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pain Intensity Moderate Decrease - SMD -0.96 vs placebo during/after treatment (moderate-certainty evidence) | Improves (the measure goes down) | Moderate effect | 4,841 people | |||
| Pain vs Standard Care Moderate Decrease - SMD -0.72 vs standard care treatments | Improves (the measure goes down) | Moderate effect | 3,155 people |
Key findings
- Pain IntensityImproves (the measure goes down)
- Pain vs Standard CareImproves (the measure goes down)
Studies cited
3 studies from PubMed
- Efficacy and safety of transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS) for acute and chronic pain in adults: a systematic review and meta-analysis of 381 studies (the meta-TENS study)
- Transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS) for chronic pain - an overview of Cochrane Reviews
- Transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS) for chronic low back pain