12 replies to this topic

[elc202]

Hi,

My main issue is rumination about the past, but also depression, anxiety and ocd. supplements, therapy, meditation, and medications offered no real help. The only thing that offers some help is exercise which I do every day. so I'm looking for something completely different. I found electronic devices for depression like this one and this one claims to be approved by fda also this one on  amazon do you think they could help? any experience with any of them? seems fake.

thanks

[adamh]

I recommend using a tens device with ear clips. A tens puts out tiny amounts of electricity, but unlike the devices you referred to, the electricity does not go through the brain. It only goes through the outer ear and stimulates the vagus nerve. I use it myself, right ear lowers blood pressure and pulse rate, left ear gives you a better mood and reverses depression. Best of all its super cheap not like those grossly overpriced devices. A tens costs from $15 to $50 more or less and the ear clips only about $10. They get hundreds or thousands for those patented devices.

 

All I know is it works for me. My bp and pulse rate is down and my mood is up after using it on both ears. I have a dual channel tens and 2 sets of ear clips

[Daniel Cooper]

I recommend using a tens device with ear clips. A tens puts out tiny amounts of electricity, but unlike the devices you referred to, the electricity does not go through the brain. It only goes through the outer ear and stimulates the vagus nerve. I use it myself, right ear lowers blood pressure and pulse rate, left ear gives you a better mood and reverses depression. Best of all its super cheap not like those grossly overpriced devices. A tens costs from $15 to $50 more or less and the ear clips only about $10. They get hundreds or thousands for those patented devices.

 

All I know is it works for me. My bp and pulse rate is down and my mood is up after using it on both ears. I have a dual channel tens and 2 sets of ear clips

 

Do you not have issues with dialing down the intensity of your average TENS unit to make that comfortable?

[adamh]

Do you not have issues with dialing down the intensity of your average TENS unit to make that comfortable?

No, it has a dial that goes from 0 to 8. A friend of mine got a cheap one about $15 that the lowest setting was too high. I told her to cut a tiny square from the pad they give you, strip off the white part and put the black material between the contact and her ear. She says its comfortable now and it seems to be working. No more bad dreams and poor sleep, less anxiety and better mood. Only uses it on left ear

[Daniel Cooper]

If you were handy with a soldering iron a person could put something around an 8k ohm resistor in series with one of the leads and that would give you more controllable range on the unit.

 

I've tried what you're doing with my TENS and at about a "2" it's unpleasant.  Putting some series resistance in the path drops enough voltage that the intensity control isn't so sensitive.

 

 

[elc202]

I recommend using a tens device with ear clips. A tens puts out tiny amounts of electricity, but unlike the devices you referred to, the electricity does not go through the brain. It only goes through the outer ear and stimulates the vagus nerve. I use it myself, right ear lowers blood pressure and pulse rate, left ear gives you a better mood and reverses depression. Best of all its super cheap not like those grossly overpriced devices. A tens costs from $15 to $50 more or less and the ear clips only about $10. They get hundreds or thousands for those patented devices.

 

All I know is it works for me. My bp and pulse rate is down and my mood is up after using it on both ears. I have a dual channel tens and 2 sets of ear clips

 

many thanks for your reply!

i found this device for 70 dollars, also they sell ear clips,  do you think they would work?

also do i have to modify them like on this tutorial?

do you put both clips on the left ear? or one clip on each ear?

how  many times per week do you use them for depression? and each session for how many minutes?

tnanks!

[adamh]

Yes that looks fine. The tutorial is to use one double sided clip instead of 2 clips on each ear. I'm sure that would work though I have not tried it myself. IMO, just use one clip on the tragus (ear flap) and one on the lobulus (ear lobe). I use two clips on each ear. If you put one on one ear and the other clip on the other ear, it would send electricity through your head and brain. If you used too high an intensity there is a risk of triggering a seizure. There are devices that send currents through the brain but they use tiny micro currents. The system I speak of doesn't do that, just through the ear and stimulate the vagus

 

I use it about every 2 days. I have a dual channel tens and I do both ears at once to save time. I do about 20 or 30 minute sessions. Mine is set at 20hz and 100 microsecond bursts. Other settings should work fine also, I've tried other values that worked. Right ear lowers pulse and blood pressure, left ear helps with depression, anxiety and improves mood. The effect is kind of subtle, don't expect something dramatic right away. But if you measure your bp and pulse you will definitely see a change if you did the right ear. On left ear, expect a gradual improvement in mood. I've been using it for a couple years now and I still like it. You can use it everyday or more than once a day. Set the intensity so that it is comfortable or just below what you can feel

 

[elc202]

many thanks!

 

[elc202]

Yes that looks fine. The tutorial is to use one double sided clip instead of 2 clips on each ear. I'm sure that would work though I have not tried it myself. IMO, just use one clip on the tragus (ear flap) and one on the lobulus (ear lobe). I use two clips on each ear. If you put one on one ear and the other clip on the other ear, it would send electricity through your head and brain. If you used too high an intensity there is a risk of triggering a seizure. There are devices that send currents through the brain but they use tiny micro currents. The system I speak of doesn't do that, just through the ear and stimulate the vagus

 

I use it about every 2 days. I have a dual channel tens and I do both ears at once to save time. I do about 20 or 30 minute sessions. Mine is set at 20hz and 100 microsecond bursts. Other settings should work fine also, I've tried other values that worked. Right ear lowers pulse and blood pressure, left ear helps with depression, anxiety and improves mood. The effect is kind of subtle, don't expect something dramatic right away. But if you measure your bp and pulse you will definitely see a change if you did the right ear. On left ear, expect a gradual improvement in mood. I've been using it for a couple years now and I still like it. You can use it everyday or more than once a day. Set the intensity so that it is comfortable or just below what you can feel

 

Hi adamh,

I have been using the device for a while now.

I have some question I hope you can answer.

- As you know, each channel has two wires (one red(+) and one black(-) ). I'm only using one channel since I'm only using it for the left ear. does it matter if the red(+) one goes to the tragus (ear flap) and the black(-) goes to lobulus (ear lobe) or the reverse?

- Are there other areas, other than the left ear,  I should try for depression/ocd/ptsd?

- Do I need to rub water on the clips, as was explained in the tutorial above?

- The clip has two  sides, one side is connected to the wire. In this photo the  wired side is on the outside of the body, is this important? or i can flip it, so the wired side is touching the inside of the ear? same question for the other clip on the ear lobe.

- So far I have been using your setting (20hz, 100 microsecond) or the tutorial setting (30hz, 200 microseconds) both on normal mode. Twice a day while I'm on my computer, each between 20-40 minutes.

Are there other settings you recommend? the device has a microcurrent (MIC) mode which has different settings than the TENS. Here are the full options the device allows:

 

• Pulse Rate
  • TENS: 1 - 150 Hz
  • Microcurrent: 0.1 - 150 Hz
• Pulse Width
  • TENS: 50 - 300 µS
  • Microcurrent: 2 - 200 MS
• Output Voltage
  • TENS: Constant Current
  • Microcurrent: Constant Current
• Current
  • TENS: 0 - 105 mA
  • Microcurrent: 0 - 0.7 mA
• Modes
  • TENS: 4 treatment modes
    • Burst (B)
    • Normal (N)
    • Pulse Width Modulation (M)
    • Pulse Rate Modulation (M1)
  • Microcurrent: 3 treatment modes
    • Constant (N)
    • Pulse Width Modulation (M)
    • Pulse Rate Modulation (M1)

 

many thanks

[adamh]

@elc202, I connect the clips haphazardly as far as which side has the contact. I  don't believe it makes any difference. I have not tried all those other settings, possibly a longer pulse would do more, not sure but I'm satisfied with my own results. I have not put water on the contacts but that will for sure increase conductivity. A simple test to see if you are getting current flow is to simply turn up the intensity until you feel it then back down. If you don't feel anything then something is wrong but that hasnt happened to me. I use black on ear lobe but I've heard you can do the opposite and it works

 

I have heard of people using other points for contact but one problem is it may be hard to get a grip with the clip. The right ear while I use it to lower bp and pulse, does other things too. Unless you have a very low bp I would try using both sides. Someone I know tried one contact on left and the other on right ear. That brings a risk of sending electricity through the brain which may be helpful, there are devices to do just that. But now you are getting into a whole different area. I've tested this many times, a few days ago my pulse was 105 at rest, I did the clips and next day it was 85.

 

[elc202]

many thanks for your help and recommending this device

[adamh]

Best of luck with it. I found that st johns wort works well as an antidepressant but you asked about electronic devices

[jroseland]

Meditation makes a big difference in depression, anxiety and ocd - but the challenge is meditating consistently. I dropped some cash on an a Heartmath HRV device which optimizes meditation practice and the sunk cost has made me much more consistent with daily mindfulness practice.