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Pain

Continued uncertainty of TENS' effectiveness for pain relief

Electrophysiological evidence provides a sound rationale for the use of transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation to relieve pain, and its widespread use is supported by hundreds of clinical studies. However, there is recurrent uncertainty about the effectiveness of this technique, as highlighted in a recent assessment by the American Academy of Neurology.

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Correspondence to Mark I. Johnson.

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Competing interests

M. I. Johnson has received travel expenses and honoraria for educational activities from Physio-Med Services Ltd, UK. He is part of an investigating team that has filed a patent application for an Electrical Stimulator to treat self-injurious behaviour (Tabasam G, Johnson MI (2008) An Electrical Stimulator. International Patent Application No. PCT/GB2007/002882). D. M. Walsh declares no competing interests.

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Johnson, M., Walsh, D. Continued uncertainty of TENS' effectiveness for pain relief. Nat Rev Rheumatol 6, 314–316 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1038/nrrheum.2010.77

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