TENS Unit

TENS stands for Transcutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulation. TENS units may be very effective in controlling pain. Here is an extremely simple TENS unit, that I designed -- in fact it went into production, as a product of Yebo Electronics. The unit allows some adjustment of the pulse frequency through VR1, for experimentation. This TENS unit should give about one month's all-night service using an AA battery pack. If you wish to be sure that it is working, clip a miniature neon indicator across T1’s 220V primary or output coil -- a neon indicator requires in excess of 70-90V to illuminate, therefore this is “proof of the pudding” that the unit is functional. The two output leads may be soldered to large metal washers, to serve as elec­trodes. These are then thinly coated with moisturising cream and taped to each side of the pain­ful area. Or use professional conductive gel pads. The critical components -- transistor TR1 and transformer T1 -- are both available from Amazon. The transistor is available here* (five pieces), and the transformer is available here*. Component details will be found on the Internet.

*This is an Amazon affiliate link. I earn a commission, at no cost to the buyer.