Have you ever experienced lower back pain? I don't mean the odd twinge after you've tripped over a rock or something on the pavement...I mean real back pain?

For those of you who have, you will know how debilitating it can be. Nights are spent tossing and turning trying to find a position that doesn't hurt and once you finally do find that golden position (which you have been in a thousand times before, during that same night) you sleep for an hour then the alarm goes for you to get up and go to work. May sound like no big deal to some, but you know getting no restful, rejuvenating sleep means that your body hurts even more and lack of sleep constantly is very frustrating!

So the alarm sounds for you to get up but then the next challenge occurs and the next and the next and the next...falling out of bed, negotiating the shower, getting dressed, clambering into the car, sitting at your work computer…oh and did I forget to say walking and trying to socialize.

Basically everything is impaired...you end up hobbling all over the place due to the shooting pains down your legs and cant carry things because of the aches in your shoulders from the strain on your upper body, you get frustrated and frankly, downright depressed so now you have to fight off anxiety and depression as well as a very painful back!

As a back pain sufferer you may have tried all sorts of pain relief from medication to osteopathy but generally the pain comes back. It can become deflating spending money on trying to relieve the pain, yet knowing it will probably return in a couple of months. TENS machines is a one time affordable buy with effective results and you can use it as soon as you feel that first twinge. It's so easy to use, you put the electrodes on your back, hold the tens machine in your hand and adjust the settings to whatever is good for you, 60-80 pulses p/second is suggested initially but you can adjust as you go along.

So how does it work? Essentially, it's like acupuncture but without anything being stuck into you. Pressure points under your skin are being stimulated by the tens machine which then produce endorphins which are pain relieving natural chemicals produced by your own body. Also there's this idea that the stimulation of the buzzing of the tens machine electrodes on your back send messages to the brain faster than the pain in your back therefore the tens machine message inhibits the back pain message from coming in.

A huge plus is that you can continue your daily activities whilst receiving a treatment and it actually feels quite nice when it's on which is a bonus! The more you use it the longer that pain stays at bay.

Share with us any pain relief experiences you have had especially if you have used a TENS machine.