Comparison of Spinal Cord Stimulators from Boston Sci., Nevro
I've lived with severe chronic pain in my legs and lumbar spine for the past ten years. Was on opiates for 8 years until I attended & graduated from Mayo's 3-week Pain Rehab Program in 2018. That program helped immensely and I got off 5 meds I used to take, including morphine and hydrocodone. Unfortunately, in the last year my spine health has worsened. I now have a toxic mix of scar tissue (from a dural tear during a microdiscectomy), stenosis at multiple levels, bulging discs and scoliosis. I am now scheduled to do a trial of Boston Scientific's "Wave Writer" SCS on August 10, 2020. Unfortunately my doctor did not guide me in the selection of this manufacturer/model. I did my own research. I considered doing trials of Nevro's HF-10 and Boston Scientific's Wave Writer. Finally decided on the Wave Writer.
I'm posting here to ask for people's knowledge of and/or experience with these two SCS's. Please reply if you can share any information. Thanks!
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I've had one for about 3 or 4 years. Your rep must come switch it off for MRI's, I recently had 10 of them. It worked real well at first. After a couple yeas I started getting electrical buzzes. So I let the battery die. I am now not using it. I also understand there is a law suit against them.
Nevro unit can do bi-polar that uses high (10,000Hz) and low freq (80Hz) There are a total of 16 leads (8 per side) placed in the Thoracic portion of the spine.
My understanding there is a class action suit regarding a data breach.
I did not have the Nevro SCS removed. It took me 3 years to convince the local Nevro support team to allow me to test the 80Hz. Also, runs the 10,000Hz (or 10KHz---thus the HFX name Nevro uses). The low freq values do help but they do take some getting used to. I do believe the current settings help pain by 50 percent. They battery does wear down quicker with the 80 Hz settings. I have to recharge every 3 days. Still have to take my Opiod pain relievers about 4 pm each day. Interesting how medicine is all against Opiod style pain relievers, but they still write scripts every day for them. People who are in extreme pain have little choices. Pharmaceutical companies are not researching new and better pain relievers due to liability concerns.
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1 ReactionSimilar to the Boston Scientific wave writer. I tried their trial but there was too much scar tissue to get the leads placed properly. Perhaps it was for the best.
I am in so much pain I would like to try one. Surgery, probably a small handful coming up. How do I find a unit, the best one, and become a patient? I am in central Florida currently, and it is my lumbar region that needs the help. Thank you guys!! I'm not happy anybody is hurting, but it certainly is great to share with those who know < 3
Kate
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1 ReactionI do not recommend Abbott SCS at all. I have had the Proclaim for five years with no relieve of pain. The customer support is terrible. I can not get a rep to call me or try to help me. Right now my battery is dead, I notified Abbott months before it expired with no response. I went over two years from hearing from a representative. The worst part is My SCS was recalled in 2023 by the FDA at the highest level and I have never received any type of notice.
@lizlarra99
Who removed your synovial cysts? Surgeon i just went to said that they were not the problem although they appear to be touching nerve endings, so I was offered spine stimulator and im terrified
My husband has had his Nevro device implant for about 10 yrs. ago. Results mixed. He lost a lot of function during the recovery period, 3 months, whereby the scar tissue heals and locks the device in place. We neglected to ask how long it would take, so we recommend that anyone considering this definitely ask that question. It was in the summer when he would have been active with yard work and but he lost all that time being inactive. We feel that he gained back the functioning that he lost while recovering, so no net gain, but he now depends on the device to maintain that that functioning. We faithfully recharge the device every morning, not complicated. The techs are very good at getting back to us whenever we call with questions over the years. Unsure whether we'd recommend it.
@mikkimoe Which unit did you use. I’m looking into Boston Scientific