Introduction; How Select Works - Empi Select User Manual

Introduction

Congratulations! Your physician has prescribed Empi's Select Pain Control system to help
you with pain management. Empi is dedicated to helping you regain your active lifestyle
– from our field sales representatives training you on how to use the system, to our patient
coordinators following up with you. We make your success our goal.

How Select Works

What is Pain?
Pain is an unpleasant sensation that can serve a useful purpose by alerting us to a possible
or actual injury or disease. When the body is functioning normally, pain serves as a warning
system that something is not right. Without pain a person would not know when to get
away from danger or seek medical help. But pain becomes a problem when it continues
after treatment has started or long after an injury is healed.
There are two types of pain: acute and chronic. Acute pain is limited in duration. Typical
examples are sprains, incisional pain or muscle strain. This type of pain is typically
associated with workplace or recreational injuries. Chronic pain, however, is a long-lasting,
persistent pain that ceases to serve as a warning system and becomes a problem.
The Select was developed to help relieve some types of both chronic and acute pain.
What is TENS?
TENS stands for Transcutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulation. Pain, whether chronic
(long-term) or acute (short-term), can be relieved through a variety of methods, including
drugs, topical ointments, surgery, and electrical stimulation. TENS devices deliver electrical
pulses through the skin to the cutaneous (surface) and afferent (deep) nerves to control
pain. Unlike drugs and topical ointments, TENS does not have any systemic side effects.
How Does TENS Control Pain?
The Select provides pain relief in two ways. The first is the gate control method. When the
body is injured, both pain and non-pain impulses are sent to the brain from the nervous
system. These pulses travel through the cutaneous nerves to the deeper, afferent nerves,
and then to the spinal cord and brain. Along the path are many areas referred to as "gates,"
which determine which impulses are allowed to continue on to the brain. The gates prevent
the brain from receiving too much information too quickly. Since the same nerve cannot
carry a pain and a non-pain impulse at the same time, the stronger, non-pain impulse from
the Select device "controls the gate."
The second method of pain control is the endorphin release method. The Select device
can be set to trigger the body's natural pain killers, called endoprhins. These chemicals
interact with recpetors, blocking the perception of pain. This is similar to the way the
pharmaceutical drug morphine works, but without the side effect associated with morphine.
No matter which pain control method is employed, the Select has been proven useful in
pain management. By reading this manual and carefully following the treatment instructions
provided by your clinician, you can attain maximum benefit from your Select device.
Select User's Manual
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