[Hyposensitive Guy]

I note with interest the news article http://www.newswise.com/articles/neurostimulation-helped-children-s-intractable-constipation, on research by Yik, Hutson, and Southwell. The key point is "Home treatment with a simple, battery-operated system that applies four sticky electrode patches to the mid-section allowed a group of children with the most difficult-to-treat, possibly congenital, constipation to reduce soiling and improve elimination, according to results presented today at the 11th World Congress of the International Neuromodulation Society (INS).", and I am particularly interested to see also that although the original research was on children with slow-transit constipation, "The study is being expanded to typical causes of chronic constipation, and to adults".

Looking into the papers related to this, I am particularly intrigued to note that this treatment has apparently restored urge/rectal sensation for many patients (e.g., in Southwell, et al's, paper "Transcutaneous Electrical Stimulation Over The Belly In Slow-Transit Constipation", we find the statement "After 2 months' stimulation, in 25 patients who had no urge to defecate before the stimulation, 20 developed the urge to defecate. This suggests that TES activated sensory perception in the rectum. This may give a clue that the mechanism of action of TES is activating sensory endings in the rectum or anus").

Does anyone know anything more about research into this treatment? In particular, does anyone know if there might be a way to obtain access to this treatment in the United States? It seems like the actual equipment used is essentially quite simple and widely available; what is necessary is a doctor who would be able to instruct and advise on how to use it (and perhaps monitor the results).

 

[annie7]

thanks for this very interesting information. i'm glad research is being done on this. it gives one hope.

if i read or hear any more about it, i'll be sure to post on this thread.

 

[Nuffa]

When i was last hospitalized,a doctor told me about that. Thanks for bringing this up

 

[annie7]

oh good, Nuffa--that's terrific! I did think that this sounded like it was available in Germany--and I thought of you

.

please do let us know if you go ahead with the procedure. wishing you success with it and keeping you in my prayers..

 

[Nuffa]

my post seems to be gone somehow. do you mean TENS? i have it at home, use it as a distraction from the pain, helps a little with c, but only a little.yet, i haven't used it for two months straight.

 

[annie7]

i didn't think they were talking about a TENS unit but i'm not sure. i have one of those, too. i bought it to use as a distraction from pain--i have a lot of pain everywhere in my body--arthritis,back etc--but it doesn't help me with that. too irritating. i did try it on my belly but no relief there either.

TENS stands for Transcutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulation

and what they are talking about in the article is Transcutaneous Electrical Stimulation (TES). not sure they are the same???

 

[Nuffa]

Annie,have u tried msm pills for the pain? My pain management doctor told me to take them in addition to my meds. Maybe they would help you?also praying for you! Btw. Thanks a lot for praying. This really means a lot to me.

 

[Nuffa]

deleting duplicate post.

 

[annie7]

oh yes I did try msm. it didn't help.

but thanks anyway--and thank you so much for your prayers, too. they mean a lot to me as well

 

[Hyposensitive Guy]

i didn't think they were talking about a TENS unit but i'm not sure. i have one of those, too. i bought it to use as a distraction from pain--i have a lot of pain everywhere in my body--arthritis,back etc--but it doesn't help me with that. too irritating. i did try it on my belly but no relief there either.

TENS stands for Transcutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulation

and what they are talking about in the article is Transcutaneous Electrical Stimulation (TES). not sure they are the same???

As I understand it, they are indeed the same; the article is about TENS treatment, but delivered in some particular fashion according to some particular protocol. (Ideally, I would be able to find a doctor who understood such details.)

 

[annie7]

thanks so much for the clarification!

 

[annie7]

i think i'll try this.

my TENS unit only has two electrode patches, not four. although they are rather large. but i only have half a colon lol so maybe two will work--or at least help-- since i don't have as much area to cover.

 

[Hyposensitive Guy]

According to the paper, the crossover from using four patches in the correct configuration is important. But I'm (unfortunately) no expert.

I'd still like to find a doctor who might help me try this or other such hyposensitivity-targeted treatments, but I despair of ever finding a doctor who really gives a **** about fixing me. So I think now I'll just try this on my own as well.

 

[kals]

i dont know what the right way of pooping is, I went from once a week stole to everyday bulk stool, stimulating to go I guess it helps

 

[annie7]

Hyposensitive Guy --good luck. hope it helps. keep us posted if you get the chance--thanks.

 

[Liaison]

Hello -- about the group whose work was featured in the news release, they were located in Australia and the work was being presented at a professional meeting in Berlin. The method uses "interferential" crossing currents that penetrate a little deeper than typical TENS to better reach the gut, so they called it TES to distinguish it.

Some reports about it include:

Transcutaneous Electrical Stimulation (TES) and Intractable Chronic Constipation in Childhood (2012)
http://adc.bmj.com/content/97/Suppl_2/A39.4

Long-term effects of transabdominal electrical stimulation in treating children with slow-transit constipation (2011)
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22152871

Medical devices to deliver transcutaneous electrical stimulation using interferential current to treat constipation (2013)
http://informahealthcare.com/doi/abs/10.1586/17434440.2013.855507

Decreased colonic transit time after transcutaneous interferential electrical stimulation in children with slow transit constipation (2009)
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19231545

Some of the research papers list an email contact for the author who may have heard if other groups are studying this closer to where you live: [email protected] or possibly the group leader, Professor John Hutson, Chair of Paediatric Surgery at the University of Melbourne, and one of the consultant Paediatric Urologists at The Royal Children's Hospital and Joint Group Leader for the Surgical Research Group at Murdoch Childrens Research Institute, [email protected]

 

[annie7]

Liaison--thanks so much for your clarification of the difference between TENS and TES. i thought they sounded different.

and thanks so much for the links!

i looked up the international neuromodulation society (INS) which was mentioned at the end of the newswise article that hyposensitive guy posted at the beginning of this topic. they have a research page which shows clinical trials going on.

http://www.neuromodulation.com/

http://www.neuromodulation.com/clinical-trials#Gastrointestinal%20Disorders

i'm going to keep checking to see if any clinical trials start up on constipation. it's exciting to know that research is going on with this.