2.3. Study Population
blastomas, low back pain, epilepsy, pain, malignant tumors, radicular pain, paralysis, chronic neck pain, osteopathy
INFECTIOUS DISEASES, EPILEPSY, CARDIAC ARRHYTHMIA, MALIGNANT TUMORS, SECONDARY, OSTEOPATHY
A total of 54 male and female patients aged 18 years or over with chronic neck pain or low back pain were enrolled in the study. The inclusion criteria were a minimum numeric rating scale equal to or greater than five, and pain duration of more than three months. The oral pain medication had to be stable at least four weeks prior to the first investigation. No additional pain therapies (e.g., acupuncture, physical therapy, osteopathy, intravenous pain therapy, intramuscular or subcutaneous injection of cortisone or local anesthetics) were allowed parallel to the study. Such pain therapies had to be discontinued at least four weeks before the study onset. Patients with experience in TENS were excluded. Other exclusion criteria were pregnancy, epilepsy, cardiac arrhythmia, cardiac surgery including implanted pacemaker or defibrillator, previous surgery in the spinal cord, infectious diseases of the spinal cord, malignant tumors with or without secondary blastomas in the spinal cord, severe radicular pain with acute paralysis in the extremities, or an ongoing pension application. 