? about TENS and ALS

[indigosd]

Web is having such a time with his left shoulder. He had 2 steroid injections but it did not help. He is now having PT for an hour on Tuesday and Thursday mornings-gentle stretching exercises, warm moist heat packs and electrical stimulation with a tens unit. Both times that he has had the tens unit applied to his left shoulder, his left leg goes completely NUMB! After giving it some thought probably stimulating dying nerves is not a good idea! Anyone else have TENS as therapy? geeee you would think that the PT would know, right? HELP I need an answer before Thursday morning.

[halfin]

Hi, Kay Marie - I asked my wife Fran about this, who is a PT. She agreed that the numbness is a sign that something is wrong. However she thought it was unlikely that TENS itself, if properly applied, was causing it. She thought it more likely that there is something in his positioning while receiving the TENS which is causing the numbness. So you might ask the PT about that and see if a more comfortable position worked better.

As far as the safety of TENS for PALS, she said that it should be applied at a low level. TENS is supposed to stimulate the sensory nerves and relieve pain. If applied at a high level, it will also stimulate the motor nerves and cause muscle twitching. That should definitely be avoided in ALS. So if it just causes a tingling sensation that is OK, but if the muscles are twitching and jerking that would be bad.

And Fran also said that you cannot at all assume that the PT would know what to do with ALS, it is a rare disorder and most PTs will not be familiar with all the details of appropriate treatment. So you should be proactive and take steps so that the treatment is done safely.

[serenade]

Indignosed,
Sorry Web is having problems with shoulder pain. I have the same problem and had an occupational therapist two 2x a week in my home. Tens therapy helped but I started at 10 minutes and went up from there. The range of motion excersize will hurt like the dickens, at first but the more he can keep stretching it the more it will improve. I did mine in the shower and bath. I never had pain else where from the tens.

[cris]

indigosd..So sorry to hear about Web and his pain. Will be praying that you find your answers before tomorrow.

[sadiemae]

Les is using a tens unit now, mainly for back. His first injection in his shoulder did nothing, and he got another stronger one that really helped. He got it right before thanksgiving, and it is still working. The needle was over 5 inches long. He is getting an epidural injection next week for the back pain he has, and will be seeing a pain specialist. He is on 60 mg of morphine a day now, and hopefully we can do something so we can cut back on the morphine. We think his pain is because he was still working so hard before he knew he had ALS, and really damaged the muscles. Erica also has bad shoulder pain,do you know her? Does Wayne have a torn rotator cuff? Les also has just recently been sweating real bad in weird places, like the back of his neck, and his thighs. Take care!! HUGS Lori

[indigosd]

Thank you for the input and support! No tens on thursday-passive rom-stretching and ice and it really made him finally have some relief! whew-I hate it when my sweetie is having bad days. Sadie, that sounds just ghastly :[ hugs, kay Marie

[brooksea]

Glad Web is doing a little better with that shoulder!