Shingles Support Group

Herpes zoster, colloquially known as shingles, is the reactivation of varicella zoster virus, leading to a crop of painful blisters over the area of a dermatome. It occurs very rarely in children and adults, but its incidence is high in the elderly (over 60), as well as in any age group of immunocompromised patients.

308 Members
902 Posts
0 Online
Infectious Diseases
/ Shingles Support Group

tens unit has been helpful

JoanMack
JoanMack
on wednesday evening, i picked up the tens unit which i get to use on a trial basis for a month. i think it is really helping me. i put it on my back in the tailbone area. am also using the lidoderm patch in my groin area. the worst pain is in my tailbone and the secondary pain is in my groin. i am hoping to stay away from the lyrica which is fogging up my mind terribly. it does work but at a terrible price of making me forget what i am doing, becoming irrational, etc. of course the pain can make you nutty too so that is why i used the lyrica. and i hope USED will be the operative work here and i can continue with the tens unit and with the lidoderm patches. wishing everybody the best of luck.
deleted_user
deleted_user
Developed cranial nerve shingles a mo. ago. The head and face pain are horrendous. What is a 10s unit?
deleted_user
deleted_user
Hope this works for you...to this day I don't get why how we named this 'shingles'...too nice a word for such a horrific disease! Keep us post and all the very best to you!
Muriel
JoanMack
JoanMack
tens stands for transcutaneous electric nerve sensation. somebody i know at the pool told me she had jaw surgery and used it on her face. you should talk to your doctor as i do not think you can get one without a perscription. they are a little awkward to use but better than being in pain. i am using one specifically designed for use on the tailbone. you could goggle tens and see what information you come up with, flowerlady.

thank you, muriel for your good words. perhaps your husband might consider something like this. has he tried the lidoderm patches as they are very good but very expensive.
deleted_user
deleted_user
It's interesting how difficult it is to get a TENS UNIT here...I had one in Australia, one of those latent stomach exercising things you get on TV. Wires everywhere...pain in the neck to use...anyway...I will mention the TENS thingie to my husband...in the meantime as of today he got the NO CANCER GROWTH IN A YEAR update from his Oncologist...which is great news! He said he has put the cancer to the back of his mind, kind of easy to do I think when you're doubled up in pain from one end to the other from PHN don't ya think? It's like the medical version of being bashed with a hammer on your good toe! Makes you forget about your bad knee.
JoanMack
JoanMack
hi muriel...glad to hear your hubby is cancer free. i agree with you about the pain, when one dies down the other pops up. i bruised my toe trying to walk to lose weight and now that hurts more than the phn. the tens has been pretty good for me though it is a pain to use and inconvenient. the lidoderm patches are ok too but very expensive. well hope your hubby gets relief sooon.