On Mar 29, 9:32*am, "Tri-Pacer" wrote:

The VA gave me a machine that applies a pulsed voltage that varies in pulse
width and repetition rate. You put sticky pads on, placed to put the current
through the painful area. I've only had it for a few days and I'm not
convinced that it is worth the effort. Time will tell.
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Dear Paul,

I wish to hell I knew how to put the damn thing on! On the advice of
my sister, who was an x-ray technician for nearly twenty years before
she got in to teaching, the thing is supposed to work like Gang
Busters. Well... mebbe they do, once the pads are properly positioned
and the pulse magnitude & duration are properly set. But going at it
blind was a waste of time, as was seeking help from a physician, who
labeled the thing as snake oil and wouldn't even discuss it.

I bought mime via the internet, by the way. I think the price was
about $30. It is the same unit used by my sister... who got hers
through some kind of 'well-ness clinic' ...for about $200. The
'clinic,' which she swears by, is also into 'crystal healing' and all
kinds of 'healing teas,' the ingredients of which would probably have
a dope-sniffing dog humping your leg. Back in the 1990's this same
idea -- an oscillator that pumped a minor jolt through a pair of
sticky-patch electrodes -- was being offered as the Sure Thing for
muscle pain in athletes. I took mine apart and found a house-labeled
NE555 wired up as a variable oscillator, plus a switching circuit. It
ran off a 9v battery and was touted by some as a sure cure for
everything from cancer to bad breath.

-Bob