Hi, I just wanted to give a big thank you for your TENS machine! I knew from the start of this pregnancy that I wasn’t able to give birth naturally and so I initially didn’t look into hiring anything like a TENS machine. I was suffering from SPD, as I had in my first two pregnancies. It got so bad that I was having expensive weekly physio therapy sessions that would last an hour and half way through the week I would be day dreaming about another session. As you can imagine, I started to research different pain relief methods that are safe to use in pregnancy. My physiotherapist mentioned that some women had found relief with the TENS machine and that it was possible to hire them. This led me to contacting your website to ask questions about the use of the TENS in pregnancy. I was so amazed at the personal help you gave me, sending me links to the research done of the safety of TENS use in pregnancy so that I could read the evidence of using TENS as an going pain relief and decide if it was for me or not. I decided that I needed the help that TENS might be able to provide.
When it arrived I found it very easy to use, even in my limited mobility and pain I was able to attach the tabs myself and get comfortable on the bed. At first the sensations were amusing and I felt like there were more keeping my mind off the pain than anything. Then, after quite a while I realised that I was falling asleep easily for the first time in weeks and that I wasn’t wincing in pain and struggling to get comfortable. I quickly took the tabs off and fell asleep. I woke up the next morning much more relaxed and well slept than usual, I realised I was also feeling less pain. I began to use the TENS on most nights. The next week at physiotherapy, my physiotherapist commented that I looked a lot happier than usual (pain can leave you looking kind of grumpy!) and as soon as she started working on my back and pelvis she noticed that I had a lot less sore points. I told her about my TENS use and she recommended that I keep using it as much as possible and that it was safe to do so as long as the tabs were on my back.
At 8 months pregnant, we suddenly decided to move to a bigger house (call it extreme nesting!) and on the night of the move I was crying in pain, cursing doing too much when I knew that I should have stopped. DH reminded me that I had the TENS machine waiting, so I quickly went into bed and lay there finally getting some relief. The next day I was amazed at how well I felt and can only attribute this to using the TENS.
I had a caesarean and I didn’t use the TENS for that, but after the birth I was very disappointed to realise that my SPD had not gone away straight away. It had been immediate relief after my first 2 babies were born, and I was very upset and worried that I may have done some permanent damage. Luckily I hadn’t sent back my TENS yet and so I started using it nightly again about a week after the birth. A few weeks later and my pelvis was stable again that it wasn’t causing my constant pain. It was finally time to say goodbye to my TENS machine and send it back!
I really wanted to write to you and tell you my story because I know that you hire TENS machines for labour purposes, but I felt like I had to write to you and tell you how much hiring your machine helped me through such a difficult time and how happy I was so have a form of safe pain relief during a very difficult pregnancy. It didn’t take away all of my pain because my SPD was severe, but as I have mentioned, it allowed me to sleep well (very important) and manage my two other children, when in previous pregnancies I was on partial bed rest by the end of them. A combination of my physiotherapy and hiring a TENS machine really helped me and I recommend it to anyone who tells me they are having pain in their pregnancy! Thank you!!