Electrical Stimulation
Electrical stimulation uses a small, battery-powered device to deliver mild current through sticky pads placed on your skin. It comes in two main forms, and they do very different jobs.
What is it
For pain, the most common form is TENS (transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation) — It's thought to work by interrupting pain signals traveling to the brain and by prompting your body to release its own natural painkillers, called endorphins.
For muscle, forms like NMES or functional electrical stimulation (FES) use impulses to make specific nerves and muscles contract on demand — deliberately exercising muscles that are difficult to move on your own after an injury or condition affecting the brain or spinal cord.
When we may recommend it
• TENS for musculoskeletal pain — sore backs, necks, knees, and shoulders — to help you move and exercise more comfortably.
• Muscle stimulation for weakness after stroke, brain or spinal cord injury, multiple sclerosis (foot drop), or surgery.
• As part of a broader plan — rarely as a stand-alone treatment.
Expected outcomes
TENS provides temporary relief — enough, for many people, to participate more fully in the exercise program that actually drives recovery. Muscle stimulation can help maintain or rebuild muscle activity, improve circulation, and support standing and walking, though it does not cure
the underlying condition or paralysis.¹ Progress is monitored and settings adjusted as you respond.
Sources
1. Cleveland Clinic — Functional Electrical Stimulation (FES) —
https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/treatments/21163-functional-electrical-stimulation-fes
2. Cambridge University Hospitals — Advice on Using a TENS Machine — https://www.cuh.nhs.uk/patient-infor
mation/advice-on-using-a-transcutaneous-electrical-nerve-stimulation-tens-machine/
3. Cleveland Clinic — Should You Use Ice or Heat for Pain? —
https://health.clevelandclinic.org/should-you-use-ice-or-heat-for-pain-infographic
4. Physiopedia — Gait Training in Stroke — https://www.physio-pedia.com/Gait_Training_in_Stroke
5. Cleveland Clinic — Gait Disorders — https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/21092-gait-disorders
6. Cleveland Clinic — Vestibular Rehabilitation Therapy —
https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/treatments/15298-vestibular-rehabilitation
7. Johns Hopkins Medicine — Vestibular Therapy — https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/physical-medicine-rehabi
litation/specialty-areas/physical-therapy/vestibular-therapy
8. Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust — Extracorporeal Shockwave Therapy — https://www.guysandst
thomas.