Portable TENS Apparatus And Method Of Use Thereof

A portable TENS apparatus comprising:

• (a) a housing having a lower surface;
• (b) a pair of integral electrodes that are incorporated in the lower surface of the housing;
• (c) a pulse driver that is located within the housing and adapted to generate a program of pulse waveforms, each of which comprises an asymmetrical biphasic square waveform, wherein the program of pulse waveforms comprises a first stage period of gate-control theory electrical current therapy for pain relief in a first stage, followed by a second stage period of opiate release theory electrical current therapy for pain relief in a second stage and a third stage period of gate-control theory electrical current therapy for pain relief in a third stage, wherein:
• (d) in stage one:
• (i) the waveform is applied in pulsed modulated frequencies ranging between 80 Hz and 120 Hz;
• (ii) the frequency modulation time is sixteen seconds;
• (iii) the frequency change interval is one second;
• (iv) the pulse width is 120 μsec;
• (v) the frequency of the waveform ramps up over a period of sixteen seconds from 80 Hz to 120 Hz, and then ramps down over a period of sixteen seconds from 120 Hz to 80 Hz, with this ramp-up and ramp-down sequence being repeated over a first stage period of five minutes, with the ending frequency being 110 Hz;
• (e) between stage one and stage two, the frequency of the waveform ramps down during a first intermediate period of fourteen seconds from 110 Hz to 5 Hz, with the pulse width remaining at 120 μsec;
• (f) in stage two:
• (i) the waveform is applied in pulsed modulated frequencies ranging between 5 Hz and 10 Hz;
• (ii) the frequency modulation time is five seconds;
• (iii) the frequency change interval is one second;
• (iv) the pulse width is 240 μsec;
• (v) the frequency of the waveform ramps up over a period of five seconds from 5 Hz to 10 Hz and then ramps down over a period of five seconds from 10 Hz to 5 Hz, with this ramp-up and ramp-down sequence being repeated over a second stage period of twenty minutes, with the ending frequency being 5 Hz;
• (g) between stage two and stage three, the frequency of the waveform ramps up from 5 Hz to 80 Hz during a second intermediate period of thirteen seconds, with the pulse width remaining at 240 μsec;
• (h) in stage three:
• (i) the waveform is applied in pulsed modulated frequencies ranging between 80 Hz and 120 Hz;
• (ii) the frequency modulation time is sixteen seconds;
• (iii) the frequency change interval is one second;
• (iv) the frequency of the waveform ramps up over a period of sixteen seconds from 80 Hz to 120 Hz, and then ramps down over a period of sixteen seconds from 120 Hz to 80 Hz, with this ramp-up and ramp-down sequence being repeated for a third stage period of five minutes, with the ending frequency being 110 Hz;
• (i) after stage three, the frequency of the waveform ramps down from 110 Hz to 0 Hz during a third intermediate period of fifteen seconds, with the pulse width remaining at 120 μsec.

A method of applying TENS therapy to a user which comprises:

• (a) providing a portable TENS device comprising:
• (i) a housing having a lower surface;
• (ii) a pair of integral electrodes that are incorporated in the lower surface of the housing;
• (iii) a pulse driver that is located within the housing and adapted to generate a program of pulse waveforms, each of which comprises an asymmetrical biphasic square waveform;
• (b) providing a pair of removable and replaceable conductive hydrogel pads that are sized and shaped to conform to the size and shape of the integral electrodes, said hydrogel pads being adapted to adhesively attach the portable TENS device to the skin of a user;
• (c) employing the pair of hydrogel pads to adhesively attach the portable TENS device to the skin of a user;
• (d) activating the pulse drive of the portable TENS device to generate the program of pulse waveforms:
• (i) each of which comprises an asymmetrical biphasic square waveform;
• (ii) which comprises a first stage period of gate-control theory electrical current therapy for pain relief in a first stage, followed by a second stage period of opiate release theory electrical current therapy for pain relief in a second stage and a third stage period of gate-control theory electrical current therapy for pain relief in a third stage.