Has anyone had pain relief from a Tens unit for lumbar spondylothesis?

@kmmw
My understanding is TENS is not a cure and does not address the underlying structural issues associated with spondylolisthesis. The effectiveness can vary widely where some may find significant relief and others may not experience much benefit. I have had surgery on my lumbar spine due to severe spinal stenosis, degenerative disc disease, neurogenic claudication and spondylolisthesis L4 slipping over L5) which caused pain, weakness, and numbness from low back, hips, buttocks, legs down to feet. I never did try a TENS unit before surgery and not sure it would have helped much since my L4-L5 was totally blocked/compressed and damaging nerves/blood vessels and affecting movement (bone on bone). TENS would only block some pain signals but not address the damage happening in my lumbar spine.

I had surgery to correct this supposed condition at L5-S1 back in 2017. Did nothing to address my pain. Tread carefully before going this route.

I have strange symptoms, my calf muscles twitch and spasm horribly. They keep telling me I need fusion but I don't want to do it if it's not going to help my symptoms. Although I don't know what to do because these symptoms really disrupt my life I only sleep about 4 hours a night if I'm lucky. I can't really walk more than a few blocks or else I'll be twitching, my legs that is. Has anyone had this type of symptom and would fusion help it?

I am not a doctor or in medicine in any way, so please take my comments with a grain of salt. I have a multitude of spine issues and a firm believer in physical therapy. If you have not done so already, You may want to consider seeking PT for your issues and remember, if one physical therapist fails you, there are many others to explore. It really could be worth it!

Oh yes I have been going to physical therapy with multiple people. No one seems to be able to help me with the twitching in my calf muscles. No matter what I do that's the big issue for me and very disturbing.

I had a triple laminectomy with spinal fusion on March 7th and I have whole body pain. I bought a TENS unit from Amazon 7 years ago for some relief but have started using it daily on knees, shoulders and neck with great success. I use it every day on one shoulder and knee and I am careful when using it on my neck more than a couple times a week as I have almost identical spine issues as you describe. I cannot reach my lower back so using ice and heat but it's taken over a month of daily use to finally see results and I increase the intensity slowly. I set it for 30 minutes per site treatment with a kneading effect or shiatsu setting. My TENS unit has 8 settings with 4 different versions (total of 24) and I have experimented. My pain is less in my shoulder than when I started, still working up to more time on the knee but I have no choice as pain meds don't work for me

crn--I agree with your view about physical therapy, especially for folks dealing with multiple spinal problems. I am doing PT as I have neuropathy, degenerative disk disease, osteoporosis. Plus, I have a diagnosis of celiac disease which may have caused muscle wasting in my glutes. I saw an acupuncturist today--he is steeped in eastern medicine. He said PT could be beneficial in building me up but it must go slowly or I could end up with more problems. So now I will try to cultivate patience, take the supplements he suggested and do epsom salt bath--no more ice.