Digital Massagers

Message Topic Search Topic Options Post Reply Create New Topic Printable Version Translate Topic

   Over Christmas as I made the endless rounds visiting friends and family, a buddy of mine that played D1 football, and has been endlessly involved with sports since and just hit age 50, showed me Dr. Ho's Digital massager, some kind of deal where you attach electrodes and then you dial up the power.  He claimed it has done wonders for a quad he "hamburgered" on a kickoff return that has been bothering him.  I hooked it up for 20 minutes on my shoulder and while I could feel it working (pulsating, contracting the muscle) the jury is still out on this in my mind, but I wondered if anyone else has one of these or can vouch for the $150 to buy one, would it be worth it?  

Author	Message Topic Search Topic Options Post Reply Create New Topic Printable Version Translate Topic
JWC III Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Visit Members Homepage Add to Buddy List Postaholic Joined: 8/30/04 Location: United States Status: Offline Points: 1277	Post Options Post Reply Quote JWC III Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Topic: Digital Massagers Posted: 1/06/06 at 5:09am
	Over Christmas as I made the endless rounds visiting friends and family, a buddy of mine that played D1 football, and has been endlessly involved with sports since and just hit age 50, showed me Dr. Ho's Digital massager, some kind of deal where you attach electrodes and then you dial up the power. He claimed it has done wonders for a quad he "hamburgered" on a kickoff return that has been bothering him. I hooked it up for 20 minutes on my shoulder and while I could feel it working (pulsating, contracting the muscle) the jury is still out on this in my mind, but I wondered if anyone else has one of these or can vouch for the $150 to buy one, would it be worth it?
	Thom Van Vleck

Wayne Hill Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Postaholic Joined: 8/29/04 Location: United States Status: Offline Points: 2935	Post Options Post Reply Quote Wayne Hill Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 1/06/06 at 6:13am
	I don't think I'd by anything like this that's named after a person. I mean, really, Dr. Ho? The problem with a lot of these devices is that you can't really tell what they are. Threre's a number of neuro-muscular stimulation mechanisms at play here, and different units do different things. The nature and level of the stimulation differ significantly from one type of device to another. For recovery, I don't think you could beat a good TENS unit. TENS stands for Transcutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulation, and has a large body of technical studies showing its benefits for pain reduction and workout recovery. A decent TENS unit costs less than $100 (some as low as $50), and a really good one about $150. It isn't a difficult or expensive technology, so the cheaper ones might be just fine for the typical athlete. -Wayne
	"We may be small, but we're slow." - MIT Rugby

Borges Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Postaholic The Conrad Dobler of the Highland Games Joined: 8/30/04 Location: Jamaica Status: Offline Points: 2188	Post Options Post Reply Quote Borges Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 1/07/06 at 7:18am
	Don't be badmouthing Dr. Ho. That is the only TENS unit that will give you a happy ending.
	Cheers, Carlos "Live free or die"

Wayne Hill Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Postaholic Joined: 8/29/04 Location: United States Status: Offline Points: 2935	Post Options Post Reply Quote Wayne Hill Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 1/07/06 at 9:33am
	Dr. Borges, reliable as ever (although a little LATE, if you ask me). -Wayne
	"We may be small, but we're slow." - MIT Rugby

-RP- Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Visit Members Homepage Add to Buddy List Senior Member Joined: 9/01/04 Location: Arizona Status: Offline Points: 297	Post Options Post Reply Quote -RP- Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 1/07/06 at 12:22pm
	My chiro has been using a TENS unit on my low back injury over the past few weeks and I can tell you that it has made a world of difference in my recovery time.
	-RP- Clan Brown "It's not bragging if you can do it."

Lyle Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Senior Member Joined: 5/30/05 Location: Canada Status: Offline Points: 111	Post Options Post Reply Quote Lyle Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 1/07/06 at 1:51pm
	wouldn't a TENS and this digital massager with electrodes be ultimately doing the same thing...stimulating the nerve to contract the muscle in pulses?

Wayne Hill Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Postaholic Joined: 8/29/04 Location: United States Status: Offline Points: 2935	Post Options Post Reply Quote Wayne Hill Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 1/08/06 at 10:17am
	Well, not quite. Different levels and patterns of stimulation have different effects. TENS is not principally about muscle stimulation, but about stimulating the nerves for pain relief and recovery. It doesn't drive the muscles to a significant degree. I believe that's because the signal is very low-level and nearly continuous (swept-frequency?). Muscle stimulation is the realm of EMS units (electrical muscle stimulation). Doing enough EMS to a level that produces a training effect hurts like hell. -Wayne
	"We may be small, but we're slow." - MIT Rugby

BigdogEMT Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Senior Member Joined: 10/11/04 Location: United States Status: Offline Points: 369	Post Options Post Reply Quote BigdogEMT Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 1/09/06 at 5:07am
	Thom, What do you need that stuff for? You have "Magic Fingers Kerby" Up there to massage your sore tired muscles!!! I mean whats a water boy for anyhow? Terry Lawson
	�The hard stuff we do right away, the impossible stuff takes a little longer!�

JWC III Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Visit Members Homepage Add to Buddy List Postaholic Joined: 8/30/04 Location: United States Status: Offline Points: 1277	Post Options Post Reply Quote JWC III Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 1/09/06 at 7:36am
	Well, Imagine my reaction when my friend turns to me and said he bought his wife a "Dr. Ho Electrical Stimulator". I was thinking, "Gee, I didn't think you guys were into that sort of thing", but then realized I generally have a pretty dirty mind (though not on the level of Carlos). As for Kerby, I'll tell him you said so, Terracy errr...Terry.
	Thom Van Vleck