United Brachial Plexus Network, Inc.

26 month old 3 primary surgeries Lobpi. We have been using TES for awhile now. We do not like using it at night because of the wires. It just doesn't seem safe. Anyway does anyone use TES during the day only and is this OK?

The other issue is being that he is 2 he has major issues with the electrodes. Putting them on and taking them off has gotten to be the worst part of all of our days. I know it doesn't hurt to put them on so I am sure he realizes that if we put it on it means that later they have to come off. He says it hurts and some of the positions of the electrodes do seem to be in sensitive places. Its just kinda hard to tell how much it hurts with him at this age.

Any advice would be helpful.

When I read your post, I thought oh man, we are going through the same thing but with the nmes unit. My son's almost three. We actually stopped for awhile but noticed changes without it. He would just freak when I pulled the unit out of the case. It was just today that we reintroduced it to him. I had his therapist do it. Maybe you need to switch the routine and have someone else put it on? Bradley would get mad when I had to peel the electrodes off too. Mayatek has really small electrodes that pin point motor points. Are you using the smaller ones? They are much easier to take off. I'm not sure about this, but I think I was told that the arm has to be at rest when using tes?

We found a very easy way to take off electrodes. We use water. I keep a little cup of water closeby, dip my finger in the water and wet one of the edges of the underside of the electrode... then as the water liquifies the glue a little bit, I can slide my finger in more and more. I keep on wetting my finger and within no time - and with no pain - the electrode is off. Once I started doing this, removal became pain free and all tantrums stopped. You can tell Jake it's really special water or magic water or something to peak his interest in it. (If you want to take the "magic" aspect further, put a drop of food coloring in the water! lol)

Allison, just to explain the differences between the electrodes - The tiny electrodes used for motor points are for the NMES unit, not TES. TES works on motor fields- this is different than NMES. Some kids use the large electrodes for TES because you have to stim a bigger area. We use 6" strips on the back and 6" strips to do a "wrap" around the arm.

My understanding is that the TES is used at night because that is when your body produces the hormone for muscle growth. Using it during the day, I think would not have the same effect on the muscle growth. We also use the 6'' electrodes to cover the larger areas down the back and wrap the arm to stimulate triceps. Just my knowledge of the TES, not a medical opinion.
Karrie

coincidentally I have just submitted the same question to Dr.Pape about the effectiveness during the day - I will let you know what I find out.

We personally decided it was not worth the fight, at least not for now. We would just like to put our little one to bed at night and feel good about it, and with her feeling comfortable as well. I know this is all very personal, but that is what we found to work best for us and our child, at least for now. Sometimes we just feel better backing up some and taking the needs of our whole child into account and sometimes that means backing off on particular treatments for a while or for a particular stage.