People say the darndest things when you're in the TENS business! Some of the things we have heard over the years...

"My machine got wet when it dropped in the sink."                      >> Really means: "Oops - I dropped it in the toilet." 

"Lectroides, Pads, Stickers, Bandaids, etc., etc."                         >> Translation: "Electrodes, Electrodes, Electrodes..."

"This machine is broken -- It's giving me shocks!"                        >> Means that it is time to check out the cables.

"My watch doesn't work any more. The jeweller says it's because of my TENS unit."                                                                       >> This merchant has found a new way to get increased sales!

"My batteries won't charge up!"                                                 >> Always check that the wall receptacle is "live". We had one instance where the client thought that the batteries would charge up if they were put back into the slots in the carrying case. Not!

"I've plugged the wires into the electrodes, but I don't feel anything when I turn on the machine."                                                   >> It has happened frequently that clients will inadvertantly plug both wires from one channel into a single electrode, effectively shorting out the circuit. Result is no output to the skin.

"I put a fresh battery in the unit, but it doesn't turn on. It does seem to be getting quite hot however."                                        >> The number of times that people (both patients and clinicians) will place the battery into the unit backwards is amazing. In some devices the spring tab that pushes the cell against the contacts is made of metal, hence the "heating" as the battery has just been shorted out and quite possibly wrecked.