A comparison of the muscular relaxation effect of TENS and EMG-biofeedback in patients with bruxism
One page on PainSci cites Wieselmann-Penkner 2001: Zapped! Does TENS work for pain?
PainSci commentary on Wieselmann-Penkner 2001: ?This page is one of thousands in the PainScience.com bibliography. It is not a general article: it is focused on a single scientific paper, and it may provide only just enough context for the summary to make sense. Links to other papers and more general information are provided wherever possible.
This small test of TENS as a method of relaxing muscles compared TENS to EMG-biofeedback in 20 patients. Unfortunately, neither approach had any effect after 20 minutes of treatment: those jaw muscles kept right on clenching, as measured by EMG.
original abstract †Abstracts here may not perfectly match originals, for a variety of technical and practical reasons. Some abstacts are truncated for my purposes here, if they are particularly long-winded and unhelpful. I occasionally add clarifying notes. And I make some minor corrections.
This study investigated effects of electromyographic (EMG) biofeedback (BFB) and transcutaneous electrical neuromuscular stimulation (TENS) on the EMG activity of the masticatory muscles and skin conductance level (SCL) of patients, suffering from myofacial pain syndrome. In the course of the investigation, EMG activity as well as the SCL was measured after a 20 min BFB or, respectively, after a myomonitor session in 20 patients and pre- and post-treatment values were compared. Results showed tendencies of decreased mean-EMG levels for both groups after the treatment sessions, with higher EMG values for the myomonitor group. There was no indication of a significant decrease in mean EMG levels over the sessions. Furthermore, an increase of the SCL during the period of treatment was observed for both groups in session I and II, while session III produced nearly stable values. No existing correlations for changes in SCL and EMG-activity could be established.
This page is part of the PainScience BIBLIOGRAPHY, which contains plain language summaries of thousands of scientific papers & others sources. It’s like a highly specialized blog. A few highlights:
- Restoring trust in menopause management: menopause hormone therapy is not a panacea, and physical activity remains a critical intervention. Tulloh 2025 Br J Sports Med.
- Common interventional procedures for chronic non-cancer spine pain: a systematic review and network meta-analysis of randomised trials. Wang 2025 BMJ.
- Gabapentinoids and Risk of Hip Fracture. Leung 2024 JAMA Netw Open.
- Classical Conditioning Fails to Elicit Allodynia in an Experimental Study with Healthy Humans. Madden 2017 Pain Med.
- Topical glyceryl trinitrate (GTN) and eccentric exercises in the treatment of mid-portion achilles tendinopathy (the NEAT trial): a randomised double-blind placebo-controlled trial. Kirwan 2024 Br J Sports Med.