The gate theory led to new treatments for blocking pain. Wall coinvented “transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation,” or TENS, which uses electric current to stimulate neurons that inhibit pain, helping in effect to close the gate. The gate theory also made Western scientists less skeptical of acupuncture, which reduces pain by stimulating points of the body often far from the site where the pain is felt. It seemed possible that acupuncture turns on neurons that inhibit pain, closing gates and blocking pain perception.
