Cranial Electrical Nerve Stimulation (CES)

[nyt]

After reading a post several months ago about the use of CES to help with pain I purchased a Bio Tuner made by Sota on Amazon for $195.00. This device attaches to each earlobe and is connected to a stimulator. The company and literature recommends 40 minutes/day for 1 month and then 2-3 X's a week to maintain. This machine comes with 6 present settings and a built in 20 minute timer that automatically turns off the stimulation. There is no advice on which setting to use so I just use setting #1 and occasionally turn it to setting #2 just for something different. I did not find any publications with the use of CES for pain to help me determine which setting(s) to use but found a fair amount of literature describing it use for individuals with anxiety disorders and there is great evidence that it decreases anxiety attacks. For individuals with anxiety disorders the mechanism of action is thought to be due to a change in serotonin levels in the brain due to the stimulation. Having said that, it would make sense that it might help with pain.

I have not notice any difference in my pain but have noticed I have a deeper sleep and feel a little more rested. I notice my sleep isn't as good if I don't use it regularly. I do not whether I haven't had success with pain management because I haven't used the correct setting but I have not been able to find any information on frequency nor pulse duration for pain.

I'll continue to use my CES just because it has been helpful for my sleep and if at some point I think it helps with my pain I'll recan't my previous statements .

[JeanieC]

NYT,
I use this machine (Sota BT7) every day also after Calluna recommended it a couple of months ago. I use it on setting 3, just because that was the one C said she used. I used it every morning for 20 minutes and every evening also for a month and now I still use it once a day for 20 minutes. I really can't feel it working while it is on, but I do think it helps a bit for both sleep and pain. I do take amytriptiline also which helps me sleep, and percocet for pain, so this makes it difficult to evaluate how much the machine is actually doing. I am slightly reluctant to recommend it to others as it is expensive and is certainly not making me feel well enough that I can say I would not want to consider surgery as an option. I am glad you posted this as I have been wondering if anyone else had tried it.

[JeanieC]

Forgot to say in the post above that the reason you can't find out anything about the setting for pain is because the CES machine is only licensed for relaxation in the USA, but in Canada, which is where it came from, they are allowed to sell it as a treatment for chronic pain.