What is the best way to protect yourself from getting hurt?

What is the best way to protect yourself from getting hurt? The whole thing sounds VERY dangerous to me. Especially if you are in the heat of the moment and not paying attention to safety? Do most people use homemade equipment or store bought? What products are safest?

Really there is nothing dangerous. Common sense and use equipment designed for the job.

I have been doing this for 35 years and never yet found something that might have been construed as dangerous.

wetman

Make sure the equipment is meant for humans. Always start at the lowest settings and make sure you avoid passing current across your heart, brain or spineal chord.

I have made myself yelp a few times but that's it. The fun I have had from it maked the odd yelp well worth it.

I have yet to make myself yelp, but do lay in place for several minutes afterward to enjoy the pleasure. Not enough guts to do more than what I'm used to, maybe with a partner around to make sure I do not get to out of control.

Correct There is nothing really dangerous.

It is common practice is not to tens near the hart.

A common problem is biting, where the pads don't have good full contact.

Make sure you use the proper contact solution.

Never use the device anywhere above your waist. Keep the contact points well lubricated with a conductive gel or KY and make sure the electrodes makes solid contact with your skin while the device is in use. Position the electrodes before you turn on the unit and, if you need to adjust the position of the electrodes turn the unit off while you make the adjustments.

I agree with Esoteric Master (post #6). Make sure your trodes or pads are snug and won't come loose before you apply current.

While some mild surprises are always a delight, having a pad suddenly reduce its contact area is a real bummer.

I concur that common sense is the best practice. Start with simple pad electrodes on your thighs and a minimal setting in order to get a feeling of the sensation and what your limits might be. Go from there to placing pads on more sensitive body parts and begin using insertibles if that is your thing. Have fun.

A general tip is to avoid placing electrodes above the waist and never directly over the heart or on the head.

Wear latex gloves when handling the electrodes

Use conduction gel or KY Jelly.

There are lot of recommendations, especially not about the waist, and using equipment for this purpose. And, use a good conductive gel like SPECTRA 360 ELECTRODE CONDUCTIVE GEL ECG GEL 8.5 oz. You can it get off eBay from a reputable seller for about $9 for two tubes and free shipping. Use good sense and know what you're doing. I've been doing it for over 20 years and never a problem, just a fun time.

One of the facts that barely are spoken about e-stim is ELECTROLYSIS of body fluids, mainly the bood and cell cytoplasma.

Electrolysis is the chemical decomposition of conductive fluids by the pass of current due to electron interchange among atoms and ions of the so called electrolite. Electrolysis takes place when current runs only in a way, that is when DC are employed.

Body fluids are well conductors so, them could be easily decomposed even by too low currents (a few milliamperes) and as a result some serious problems could happen, even a true poissoning.

Alternating currents if has a frequency high enough, has little or none chances to cause electrolitic phenomena because the chemical reaction done in a half cycle will be quickly undone by the following one when the polarity was reversed. To this will be true the duty cycle of the wave must be ABSOLUTELY SYMMETRIC, otherwise if one cycle are longer than other or has a voltage difference among them, the result is that the AC has a DC component superimposed, that is the same as if we had a direct current of the differential value among two alternating periods. Such DC component pass through body with the obvious risk associated, so, the most important concern is to be sure of the quality of wave given by the device and the true bipolarity of the output to avoid any problem about DC effects.

I'm not skilled about e-stim as I said in other part, but by my job I know very well those things about electricity and electronic and their main safety issues.

Regards.

E-STIM is Alternating current using variously designed waveforms of all shapes.

Yes, or at least it must be so; those devices must give TRUE balanced waveforms. As I've read (I know the theory about E-stimmers but have had no chance to practice with them as technician nor as user) good devices are reliable and safe, but what about some other cheaper ones mainly those that could be bought online from unknown brands and withouth any guarantee?

If the circuit design have not been scrupulously studied, designed and made, chances are that uneven waveforms could be generated, and if that results in an asymmetry, we will have the undesired DC components that could be dangerous.

Anyway I'm almost desiring to begin to experiment with one of these gadgets.

those devices must give TRUE balanced waveforms.

What do you mean by TRUE balanced waveforms? Do you mean a differential balanced signal?

Where are you getting your information? You are bringing up supposed problems that have not been a problem in the past.

E-stim pulses can even be from music, so they are complex waveforms of no particular shape viewed on an oscilloscope.

If the circuit design have not been scrupulously studied, designed and made, chances are that uneven waveforms could be generated, and if that results in an asymmetry, we will have the undesired DC components that could be dangerous.

Why not simply admit you have no idea what you're talking about ? Because, nothing personal Hugo, but seriously...

@docinny45: Please don't underestimate the skills of any people w/o having a previous knowledge of him or her. I do not do.

I can speak about waveforms, electronic technology, audio recording, audiofrequencies, radiofrequency and other related items because THOSE THINGS ARE ON A DAILY BASIS IN MY JOB as a image, sound and telecom engineer from many years ago.

When I speak about "unbalanced waveforms" I'm speaking about signals that has a 2nd harmonic content (and subsequent odd order ones) along with the fundamental frequency, so, their duty cycle is deviated in one or another sense, either positive or negative depending upon the prevalent polarity of such harmonic frequency. Such kind of signals are said that has a "direct current (DC) component". Is such compontent what I'm speaking about, and of course, you have mention audiofrequencies, right; audiofrequencies are basically AC waves, but that doesn't means that them could be perfect sine waves equally polarized in their positive and negative semicycles, but on the contrary most of times in real life audiofrequency waves are strongly asimmetric in one or another direction with a high DC component, almost beautiful and perfect sinus AC doesn't exist in audio world. Believe me, I waste many hours every day in front of a screen in which audiowaves are continuously danzing while recording, mixing and editing sound.

Even though I have no physical experience about use or service with those e-stim devices, I've analyzed a couple of schematics about them, because (please believe me or not) I'm trained enough as to clearly understand (and of course in electronic development and design) this and another kind of electronic circuit diagrams and consequently concluding that there are good and bad devices.

Good ones are those (expensive ones) all in which desing have been taken all kind of cautions about avoiding voltage spike chokes and VERY IMPORTANT: any deviation of DC offset or any kind of asimmetry in output waveforms.

Bad ones are those (cheap ones) in which a simple oscillator periodically is switched on and off (in a faster or slower cadence depending on external adjust) exciting a pair of transistors and sending the output to the electrodes through a simple electrolytic capacitor not even with the aid of an isolation transformer. Those devices not only could sting but also giving an undesired DC "byproduct" that could has some side effects.

As I said, I'm interested about testing e-stim in my self, so, before doing any attempt I want to know in-dept those technical details about such devices to be totally safe and convinced of their harmless and behavior.

Regards.

I would still like an answer to my questions.

Well, I've answered yet when I said that a "well balanced" waveform is that which has the same ratio among amplitude and lenght of each semicycle but with reverse polarity; a true AC no matter what waveform were being considered. As you said that detail could be seen in an oscilloscope or even in any audio waveform editor (if such a wave is in the range of audiofrecuencies of course).

A diferential balanced circuit is another thing that has not to do with waveform. Any bipolar circuit that has two electrically "floating" wires is tecnically speaking a BALANCED circuit. Their most frequent application is for professional audio lines and microphone connections because it gives an optimal common-mode rejection of external interferences because the signal runs ONLY along the two conductors but in opposite direction, but not between them and earth by example; some very familiar to all of us that deal with audio circuits daily. The electrodes of E-stim devices MUST BE of this type of configuration: two wires in a bipolar floating balanced arrangement. But when I refer to symmetric waves I'm not speaking about the circuit configuration but instead about the waveform in itself and its positive-negative semicycle value ratio that is what could give a DC component at output when both "halves" are not exactly equal but reverse.

About the sources of info you question for, I've read some books on the issue and also many gigas of info can be got from specialized sites on the net with hundred of schematics, component values, explanations and calculations. Take in account that many of the specific aspects of such devices are covered by general electric and electronic theories because no one technical system are outside of such physical rules. Regarding those supposed problems you mention I must apologize if some of yours have felt burdened by them, I only was speculating about some that I was worried about: the hypothetical presence of DC components in the output signal of those devices. I've said many times that I know fairly well the theory of e-stim but I haven't tested none of those gadgets in my own body, so, before trying I preferred to make some questions about safety against possible DC polarization risks, no other aim was in my mind when I did my first post.

Regards.