♪ Bob and Brad ♪
♪ The two most famous physical therapists ♪
♪ On the internet ♪
- Hi folks, I'm Bob Schrupp, physical therapist.
- Brad Heineck, physical therapist.
- And we are the most famous
physical therapists on the internet.
- In our opinion, of course, Bob.
- We're gonna wake you up, Brad.
Today we're gonna talk about how to use
a TENS unit with foot pain.
We're talking about pain that might be
on the top of your foot, on your heel, plantar fascitis.
We're gonna show you correct pad placement.
Yeah.
At the end of the video we're gonna show you,
it's actually not an exercise, it's a massage
you can do for your foot.
Especially if you're having plantar fascitis.
- Yep.
A treatment you can do at home to yourself.
- Yep, that's gonna be a bonus at the end.
Right now we're gonna talk about TENS.
If using TENS, a TENS unit from another manufacturer,
you're gonna have to use their instructions.
- Right.
- Brad and I have used dozens of TENS units.
They were all good.
Some of them didn't have very good instructions,
and that's why we're endorsing
one particular brand: the iReliev.
They have really good instructions,
they have good units, they're FDA approved,
they're compact, they're powerful.
I think they got the whole package.
- Yeah.
- So if you go to our website bobandbrad.com,
go to the program section.
Under the program section you'll find three videos.
There's step by step videos on how to use the 13/13.
And that's the number of the unit.
- Right.
- The 80/80 or the 50/50.
- One's wireless, one's the introductory level,
and this is the 80, which we think is probably
gonna be the most useful for most people.
- In our case, yeah.
And so we got links below if you wanna purchase
one of those.
So right now what we like to do is to show ya
where you can place the pads when you have foot pain.
The statement we're gonna make right away at the beginning
at the outset here is that there's really no right,
real right or real wrong.
I guess there's some real wrongs, but we're gonna
just give you some suggestions.
You try it, you see what works for you.
And if it works, you go ahead and use it.
- Exactly.
- I should mention this is probably really good
for neuropathy, too, Brad.
- Sure.
- This is a case where I've probably tried it
quite often is somebody with neuropathy.
- Yeah, 'cause should we get going here
before our viewers fall asleep?
- Yeah, let's start it.
- Let's start with-- - The bottom of the foot?
- Bottom, okay. - Sure.
- Now, on the bottom of the foot
is a unique place because you're not gonna put pads
on the bottom of your foot and then walk around.
- Right.
- So if you wanna manage your pain on the bottom
of your foot, it's gonna be, you're gonna put
the pad and the electrodes on and not walk.
Your feet are probably gonna be, maybe in a recliner,
somewhere where you're not contacting the electrodes
'cause they don't conduct well.
You'll find that it can be a little uncomfortable,
the unit may jump around on you and beep
and tell you there's not good conduction.
So you're gonna start off with just two pads, right?
- [Bob] Yeah, from one channel.
- [Brad] And we're gonna put a spot right here.
The red spot, for example, it could be
anywhere on your foot.
Let's say this is it.
This is a common place for plantar fascitis.
You may wanna put right over the top of that pain.
Make sure you wash your feet really well.
- [Bob] Yeah.
- [Brad] If you're oily, skin oil is on there,
it's gonna really not work as well,
they won't stick as well.
Yep.
Also I found that if you have a lot of callus
on your foot and you put the electrode
over the callus, the callus does not conduct
electricity as well as good, healthy skin.
So you can do it.
If it's uncomfortable, if it's not working well,
you're gonna have to move the pad.
So I wouldn't put it right there 'cause that's where
my biggest callus is.
I could go here.
Make sure, this is as close as I ever wanna get.
You wanna go out the same dimension of the pad
it should be inbetween.
So I may go there with this.
I could go above it. - [Bob] Sure.
- [Brad] I guess we could go on this side of the ankle
on the bottom.
Go through that direction, we can see there.
There's a lot of different options.
You may not wanna go on the point of pain,
you may wanna go and surround it.
So maybe put one there, and one over here.
- [Bob] Kind of above and below or you can also go
side by side if there's room again,
which you're starting to get
a little tight there, aren't ya?
- [Brad] Yeah.
I mean, you could, again, put it on your heel
and see how it works.
Again, that's a place where there's a lot of callus
for a lot of people, including myself.
We could go here, you know.
- [Bob] There's a more of a side by side.
- [Brad] Yeah.
So there is quite a variety, you just have to try it.
Make sure it manages the pain well,
and everything is working well.
- [Bob] Why don't you leave those in place, Brad.
- [Brad] Okay. - [Bob] And show two more.
So if you added two more pads, now what it's doing
is it's actually forming a little bit of a cross.
Or is that an X, Brad?
(laughs) Well, I guess it depends on how you look at it.
- [Brad] Yeah.
So we're going here to here 'cause electricity goes from,
now you're not gonna have colored electrodes like this.
We put that on there just for educational purposes for you.
They're gonna be black or all white.
- [Bob] Yeah, so you want the channel,
like this is channel one, the yellow ones.
So you can see you want those across from each other,
and then channel two is across from each other,
so that they actually form the cross.
- [Brad] Right.
So the TENS unit here, and we've got two wires.
Each wire has two pig tails, if you will,
and they connect up to this.
We're just not doing that because it makes it easier
for me to move these around efficiently.
- [Bob] And we should mention when you go to the video
on how to use this, when you watch this video,
below in the description we have a link
towards a PDF, a print-out.
- [Brad] Right.
- [Bob] That'll actually have a picture of all these photos
of all these different placements.
So you'll only have to listen to us once.
Then print it out.
- Right.
- It'll be able to demonstrate to you
where to place the pads.
- Should we go on to the Achilles Tendon?
- Sure.
Yeah, that's a good place to start
with just two, isn't it?
- Yeah, well there's one option for four,
but here you may wanna go right over the top.
- [Bob] Right on the tendon pain.
- [Brad] Yep.
Let me get the right channel.
There we go.
We put the second one here.
- [Bob] Yep.
- [Brad] You know, if the pain may be radiating
this side of the ankle,
you may wanna put one here.
Again, if they're touching, definitely too close.
Even that much is too close.
You should have that distance.
- [Bob] Just a reminder, pads-width.
- [Brad] Yep.
Again, we could go on the heel,
but you're gonna have to see if it conducts well.
And we could go over here and go on that side
if the pain wraps around to the outside of the ankle.
- [Bob] Sure.
- [Brad] We could go here on the outside
of that ankle, and then go to the inside here, and then--
- [Bob] Yeah, see how it conducts right between
the two and still hits the pain area.
- [Brad] Right.
So the electricity goes in,
and it definitely works with all these into the channel.
This'll be the channel two, and it goes
through your skin to the other one.
Doing four, two channels or four pads on this.
- [Bob] I think would be a little tough.
- [Brad] Yeah.
I mean, 'cause unless you go on the heel
and go up here, that's probably not gonna work.
And you could try it, but I have a feeling
that you're gonna have some problems.
If they're not making good contact,
sometimes it's not comfortable.
You can feel underneath the pad.
It feels like pins and needles in a way
that's not comfortable.
You'll learn that very quickly with that.
- Yeah, you'll know it doesn't feel right.
- [Brad] Right.
- Now, if you go to the front of the foot,
I don't think we need to show this the single one anymore.
Why don't you just show all four.
- Yeah, 'cause we already went over again.
You put one on the pain, one above the pain,
one on the pain, one below the pain.
- [Brad] Here, here, here. - [Bob] One side by side.
- [Brad] Here.
Again, if that's the pain area, you're not gonna go
channel one and channel one here.
- [Bob] Yeah, 'cause it won't hit it.
- [Brad] Right.
It doesn't cross over the pain.
Or like that.
So we're gonna yeah, yeah.
So we're going to switch these two around
so that channel one goes across the pain.
Channel two goes across the pain.
And then you got a larger area,
if there's a lot of global pain.
It's a little run.
It'll wear the batteries a little more
with two channels.
But if it works better it's worth it.
If you can satisfy your pain management
with just one channel, that's all I'd use
because it's less wires to hook up,
less more battery power to make.
- That's why we like the 80/80 though
'cause it is rechargeable.
- Yeah.
- You don't have to keep buying batteries.
The 13/13 is a lot less expensive,
but it comes with--
- [Both] Is it AA?
(laughs)
- AA or AAA batteries, and you gotta--
- I think there's two of them or four of them.
- Yeah, yeah.
- So that shows our mind there.
(laughs)
- The old memory effect.
- I think we covered it fairly well, Brad.
- Yeah, I think--
- Print out the photos below.
So for the massage.
If you could show us, Brad,
since you have your feet available.
- Sure.
- We're gonna go ahead and show a splayn massage
and a circular massage.
And this is really good for plantar fascitis.
- [Brad] Sure.
- It's the one that we recommend my sister, by the way,
as of right now.
Did I tell you that?
- Oh really?
- Yeah, I sent her to our plantar fascitis program--
- Sure.
- Because we actually have a program on that, too.
- Did she laugh at ya?
- No, I don't know yet.
She hasn't said yet, but--
- Make sure you put 'em back here on the plastic pad
it came with.
Keep 'em clean and put 'em back in the box.
Cleanliness is very important--
(laughs)
with keeping these so they work longer and last longer.
- And cleanliness is next to something.
- Yes.
- [Bob] Okay, go ahead, Brad, go on and show 'em.
- [Brad] Okay so, should we say--
- [Bob] First we're gonna do the circular massage.
- [Brad] Yeah, well let's say you have the pain here,
it's maybe from plantar fascitis.
The fibers run this way.
We're gonna go, well I'll do across friction here.
- [Bob] Okay, sure.
- [Brad] Across friction.
If you're not sure which way the fibers go,
you could go either way, and the whole point is
is after you're rubbing pretty deep,
I'm pushing in hard, and it's not creating
any sharp pains, and you continue to do it.
And after about 30 seconds, if it starts to feel better
it's like, oh boy, that feels better than when I started.
And sometimes it might feel a lot better.
Then you know you're doing the right thing for sure.
And then you're gonna do it until your thumbs get tired.
You can do it with your fingers.
But when your fingers and your thumbs get tired,
it takes about two minutes or so.
Give it a break and then come back and do it again later.
- [Bob] If you have a really tender spot right there,
work around it first if it's too much to tolerate.
- [Brad] Exactly.
- [Bob] And again, you can do circles, you can do splayn.
You wanna show what a splay is, Brad?
- [Brad] Yeah.
- [Bob] So you can start with your thumbs together
and pull them apart.
That one seemed to help my wife a lot
when she had plantar fascitis.
- [Brad] Did you do it or did she do it to herself?
- [Bob] I think I showed her--
- [Brad] And then she was on her own.
- She was on her own.
(laughs)
- Bob, why, Bob?
So, I like the one with the Achilles Tendon
with the pain back here where you can actually--
- Do a cross fiber on that.
Oh, that one. You can squeeze it.
- [Brad] Yep, so if we can get a view.
Like this actually, your thumb here and here,
and then you actually go past the tendon,
that rope-like tendon, and you can work in and--
- [Bob] You go on the sides of it.
- [Brad] Yep.
And then you're squeezing in and working that.
I've had good success with this.
We have a lot of comments with our viewers
saying they've had good success with this.
And you can work it up and down.
Work it up and down, and again, do it a couple times a day.
- Yep.
- And it can help take that pain away.
- Yep, absolutely.
So we could go on with these treatments
for quite a while, but you know, this is a TENS video.
(laughs) - Thanks for watching.
(soft noise)