Roscoe Medical TENS Unit and EMS Muscle Stimulator, Twin Stim, OTC TENS Machine for Lower Back Pain Relief, Neck Pain, or Sciatica Relief, Clinical Strength Stim Machine

About 8 years ago, I was prescribed an EMSI TENS unit. I was sent a second, upgraded unit about 5 years ago. I received EMSI electrodes monthly, so I wound up with a stockpile (6 dozen) of electrodes. About 4 months ago, both units stopped working. With the nerve damage and pain after a foot surgery, I wanted to keep using a TENS unit to slow down the nerve damage, so I tried to buy a new EMSI unit and apparently that requires a doctor's prescription since the EMSI site doesn't have a shopping option. I found a used EMSI unit on eBay for $45, but I wasn't excited about that option. I started trying to find a unit on Amazon that I thought I could use with all those electrode patches and I FOUND IT with this unit. For the cost, I was getting a new unit that could be returned if it wasn't compatible with the electrodes. I've used it every day (3x daily) since it arrived. See the EMSI patches on my surgery site in use. This unit came with 1 pack of electrodes. You can see they are a bit larger than the EMSI patches. The unit has a very good, clear instruction booklet with it. And the unit is easy to use. I like the fact the controls are protected with covers. That prevents accidentally hitting the controls and getting a painful shock. All in all, I would buy this unit, particularly if you have EMSI electrodes you'd like to use. As I'm writing this review, the electrodes are attached to my calf hopefully stimulating blood flow to the nerve-damaged foot.

It works perfectly worked just as it was described

Instructions are awful and confusing. Check YouTube before operating this device. No real way to know what mode to use, wave length, or in general how to identify what settings to use for pain relief. Again just no directions on what mode to use, or Tens vs Ems. Intensity settings is going to be different for most users. Used on my wife’s leg for knee pain and she did feel it was reducing her level of pain. Buy it, play with the settings, watch YouTube videos. Good quality and pretty harmless but be sure to place pads from 2-6 inches apart for best results. Start at 100 hz, tens, normal, 30 minutes. Set intensity to 2-3 on channel 1 or Channel 2 . Use only one channel and two pads initially 2-6” apart on muscle not bone. Be sure you clean your skin with soap and water and dry before applying the pads. You can also use channel 2 simultaneously and place pads in another area. Intensity should start at 2-3 and increase until you feel comfortable and don’t overdue it the first time. Then perhaps repeat the process in 6-8 hours or the next day. The key to pain relief is the word comfortable and no more. Muscle takes time to heal and the EMS process interrupts the pain signals to your brain providing temporary relief. As the muscle heals and relaxes from the electrical pulses the spasms will subside in time. Remember spasms are your bodies defense mechanism to prevent further injury to nerves and your spine. Your body limits movement around the injured area ie spine, knee, joints, neck or cervical area. Remember stay away from bones and focus on surrounding muscles where contractions take place. If you feel no relief within 4/5 days see a professional. It may be necessary to get an MRI or X-rays. Let pain be your best guide to getting urgent treatment.

Pocket size and clip to be easy to carry. EMS part, not the Tens Unit, this is a good one. Very few have the EMS you can control the number or Hz on sold on here. Any device that doesn't show Hz in the picture means you're not able to adjust it which defeats the purpose. There are some that show EMS. If you don't see EMS and Hz on screen, it's not for you to set vs. they preset it. That won't have the same effects. Instruction manual for all tens unit are not useful. It doesn't tell you the details. Those wanting the EMS, lot of times it's the professionals that know how to set it. No manual tells you what does what. Anyone not familiar with Tens Unit, it is not consistent sensations. Not designed to be. It's meant to have your nerves react so no matter what you set it on, you're going to have surprises vs. anything more consistent with a pattern. Not intended to use while operating any machinery. The way the pulses work will be a surprise. Many Tens Unit sold on here and they all do the same thing. The EMS part is what helps you on the pain relief. Your body produces natural pain killers called Endorphins and Enkephalins. Nice to know eh? If you want pain relief without the medicine, this is it. You have to use it on a daily basis for the body to keep up. No, you can't set it at the highest number and think you're going to get a full on relief and speed up the process. You end up feeling more pain afterwards. So if you do feel pain after, it's normal. The body isn't used to it at that setting yet. Best way to use this is to set it at 100 width, 85 Hz. Then after a few days, got up an increment on the width. Keep going on it till you reach 300 since that's max on most of these devices. Then increase the Hz little by little till you reach 150 which is max. By setting it at 100 width and 85 Hz, you get the consistent buzz. If you set it at what ever number, it will not be consistent and it will pause in between. Set the ramp at 5. Many folks fuss that it doesn't work on this and other devices. It's due to not having someone that usually deals with this to instruct how it should be used. It's something you gradually build up on. Once you build it up to max, then it works the way it should and even before then. Don't use it more than once during the hour. Always give it 1 hr time gap or more. Set it at 15 min for a while and then move up. I understand one can be in a lot of pain. You end up in more pain if you try to set it at max. As for how high of a buzz you want to feel to start, I would say stay between 5 - 10. You can go higher, but don't suggest it if you're new. This isn't designed to be same as meds to work right away. You have to build up to it. Endorphins is hat last about a few hours when it's set at a certain level. Enkephalins last 24 hrs. When you have it set to full potential, it works very well. You have to build up to it. May take a few weeks. Never stick the patches on your neck, head or over your heart. Smaller one is nice since it fits into pocket. But the turning knob to adjust buzz is very lacking so you can move it up a tad too much and feel too much. It's as if they designed it with kid fingers. It should be designed with buttons, not a knob to turn. Moving up 1 number can be a stronger buzz than you want and need. The larger version of this that has the buttons has a more consistent build up on the buzz which is nicer. But it is a lot bigger is what makes it not as convenient to carry around and it does not come with clip that this small one has. The big one does turn off by itself when it reaches the time you set it on. The small one beeps for you to turn it off. Bigger one has 4 outlets which mean you can have 8 patches. The smaller has 2 outlets. For all those who wonder why sticking 1 patch doesn't work, it's because you need the 2 patches on your skin to work. Whether you want to stick the 2nd one next to the 1st one or across, the idea is to use 2 patches. The patches do last a while. You rub a light, damp towel over it after use to keep it clean and sticky. Both designs look as if it was created in the 1970's and nobody cared to update it. Bulky and no designing it to be easier to use. Set it on EMS if you want a consistent buzz. You can change things around, but I'm not messing up the setting that works best. This is good for anyone with chronic pain. If you have some temp. pain due to surgery and the idea is to be on this vs. meds, it works if you give it time. Hope this is more helpful than the manual. From there, I would sugg. you use it once a day or skip a day to get your body used to it so that when you're in a lot of pain, you're not starting all over again.

Absolutely what I needed! Does what it’s supposed to do. Haven’t had any issues with it and have used it a lot. Great value for the money! Would definitely recommend.

This is an easy to use and light weight stimulator. We were able to program our stimulation pattern into it, and many inexpensive stimulators have limited patterns that are not what we need. We needed 2 or 4, o4 6 Hz stimulation that is continuous. The only real downside is the amount of current is not very high. This is typical of this class of stimulator. More than enough current for a vigorous contraction in the arms. But not quite enough current for the leg muscles. So if you use the legs you might have less muscle activation than you would want.

Worked perfectly while my spinal cord stimulator was down.

It's a very simple to use device and provides mild relief from muscle aches or pains. The power is quite strong and it goes up to 10 but I've never gone above 5 or 6 without feeling like my bones are rattling. It definitely "shocks" your muscles but it can feel uncomfortable at 1st. Definitely start LOW and work your way up. The pads stay on and can be reused a few times before the stickiness is gone. But sometimes an edge will peel up and you will get shocked if you touch the inside by accident. But it still works for my needs, it provides relief for my back pain and sore legs. But I don't know if there's any potentially bad side effects and I only use it when I'm in dire pain now.