Ah, being a mum. Sometimes we really don’t know what’s more painful – the pregnancy growing pains, the labour, the recovery, or the years that come afterwards - actually raising them to decent little human beings.

With around 50 per cent of women suffering from lower back pain during their pregnancy or postpartum, Aussie business PainPod has developed a drug-free device to help with pain relief.

The pocket-sized device harnesses the body’s bioelectrical system to moderate and manage pain levels.

To be technical, the bio-electrical nerve stimulation pulses through the skin to your nerve endings that are causing pain in different areas, and then blocks the pain signals from travelling to the brain. People are using it for various reasons – to aid injuries, help with pre-natal symptoms, labour pains, post-natal aches and pains, arthritis and migraines.

With a pounding post-work headache, and a little skepticism, I decided to give the trusty device a go. Hey, if pregnant women are said to be using it to help with labour pains, something has to be good about it, right?

What is this, a pacemaker?

I have to be honest, my first reaction when opening up the PainPod was that it was all very technical and scary. It had sticky pads, wires, and a little monitor that had a heap of scary looking icons on it. Was this going to restart my heart or something?

I was a little scared.

I placed the sticky pads on my shoulders and set myself up in a comfy position before hitting the on button. At first, nothing. So I turned it up a notch. A slight prickly zap – a weird sensation but nothing to be concerned about – so I turn it up again two more bars.

WHOOSHKA!

My shoulders begin to twitch and move and I feel like I’m having some sort of out of body experience. Maybe it WILL re-start my heart?

No wonder this thing is referred to as ‘physiotherapy in your pocket’. It is literally making my muscles work in a way that I’ve never seen before and I was doing absolutely nothing. It was intriguing and was relieving.

I leave the machine on for half an hour as recommended and I have to admit, I did feel like someone had given me a massage. I was less tense. Did my headache go away? Well, no. Not right away but after a shower it did – and I didn’t even have to pop any pills to aid with the pain relief. 

This little device is a beauty!

Amazed that it worked, I decided to try the machine on my husband who suffers from regular lower back and shoulder pain. He blames it on sport, I blame it on the fact that he’s just a whinger… but I digress.

We hook him up with four sticky pads – two on his back and two on his shoulders. After half an hour on full bars, he admits there is relief. And continues to sing the machines praises after undergoing the same treatment once a day for a week.

While the larger device, the PainPod 3 might be a little much to spend for most parents out there at RRP $479.00, the smaller device, the PainPod Mi is a little more affordable at RRP $99 and does a pretty good job for minor aches and pains.

Regardless, at a time when everyone wants to lead a more “natural” lifestyle, I must say it’s nice to have a product that is drug-free and stops us reaching for the medicine cabinet.

Check it out for yourself at www.thepainpod.com or at your local pharmacy, physio, or chiropractor. They’ll all tell you it’s the bee's knees too.