Has anyone had the Stimwave spine stimulator installed?
Hello to ALL! I have a severe back injury and even after three surgeries and several fusions, I am still experiencing severe and chronic pain. My pain management specialist is talking about a spine stimulator. After some research I located the Stim Wave. With this unit, only the leads are implanted. No wires come through. The antenna is worn like a pager on your belt.
Has anyone tried one of the Stim Wave stimulators yet? Any feed back on them?
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I have been at it for probably a month or so. That was about the time the doctor giving shots couldn't do anymore and referred us for the SCS.
I did the stemwave PNS trial , I had 2 leads place in my leg for terible knee pain after a TKR & REVISION, I did this back in Jan for 10 days and had no relief and I would say my pain was worse after the trail but only for a few days then it was back to the usual terrible pain. Stemwave did try their best but no. Now I am starting to look into a spinal stimulator which scares me
Good luck spinrosa, I had the Boston Scientific SCS implanted last year. The trial was terrible. They put globs of tape in the area of the back where the leads get placed. But I went ahead and had the permanent one implanted. My chronic pain is in my toes. It helped maybe for back and hip problems, I got about 10% relief. So, I had it removed on August 2nd. even though the surgeon and the Rep told me the had success with feet, toe problems, I found out that the Boston Scientific SCS is really not for foot pain. It's more known for back and hip problems. I'm considering the Abbott DRG. They claim it can be targeted better and it's more effective for feet problem. I spoke with 3 patients this doctor worked on and they all said they got significant relief and they highly recommend it. Two had chronic foot pain and the other a chronic leg pain from an accident. I think a lot has to do with the skill of the surgeon and if he/she takes their time implanting the leads. Ask the surgeon surgeon if you can talk to a couple of his/her patients that had the same problem that you are experiencing. Good luck
Thanks Mark good advice
I am glad you found relief! My Medtronics one has been a blessing! I can have an MRI, I just have to turn off a mode in the transmitter.
had stimwave installed 25 feb 2021 for left cluneal nerve the jury is out if its working right or not, thinking about seeing a orto surgen to look at my hip ,hip problems run in my family
Very interesting. It’s my right lateral cluneal nerve that is apparently entrapped. My previous doctor tried to ablate it, but only nicked it, causing severe pain for about two weeks. I’m in the 9th day of a Stimwave trial and, so far, it’s covering the pain completely. I’ve tried everything to aggravate it, sitting, standing and walking for hours with no pain. The doctor placed one lead in front of my iliac crest and the other behind it, around the middle of my butt. The trial ends next Monday. I’m so sorry it did not work for you. Did they do a nerve block on you to confirm it was the cluneal nerve before implanting the stimulator?
I'm happy for you. Thanks for sharing. Please let us know where your pain was before getting the Medtronics (Boston Scientific)
I am currently testing Stimwave (and during testing, the wires DO come through your skin, which is becoming quite irritating). Stimwave differs from a spinal cord stimulator (which I currently have) in that it is a peripheral nerve stimulator. The leads don’t go up your spinal column, but are placed near the nerve(s) to be targeted. In my case, it’s the right lateral cluneal nerve. The nerve is “entrapped” and causes pain across my hipbone (iliac crest) down to my groin and down my right butt cheek all the way to my knee. I insisted on a 10 rather than 7 day trial because of my disappointment in the Nevro spinal cord stimulator that I’ve had for four years. I’m on the 8th day and the pain is completely covered. I’ve tried very hard to aggravate the pain by sitting, standing and walking for hours, but the unit seems to be working. I’m scheduled to have the test leads removed on Monday and have a list of questions for the doctor. If his answers satisfy me, I will go ahead and have Stimwave implanted and the Nevro unit removed.
The SCS is not for foot pain I THOUGHT. I understood that the PNS is for pain in extremities?