Has anyone tried the HF10 Spinal Cord Stimulation Device?

So sorry what is CRPS exactly ?

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Yes I still have one. The original reached it's time limit and another one was put in. And when that one was getting close it was replaced with a new state of the art one. I can now have MRI's and the technician is going to work with me next month to teach it to tell when I lay down and automatically turn down the stimulation.
I plan to have one always because I know what the nerve pain is like and do not want to feel it! I know a lot of the patients don't have patience enough to work with it and give up. It's not a one time inserted and all is well. It has to be adjusted quite a bit the first couple years but gets less and less. When I have something done surgically it has to be adjusted because it is very sensitive and can get out of whack. If I fall it has to be fixed again, things like that.
I have encouraged everyone who has come to me, to have one put in if the pain is so bad you can't control it.
I'm actually on my third doctor, the others have moved or retired. I'm like an old shoe that keeps hanging around.

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Complex Regional Pain Syndrome. It usually happens in arms or legs. Mine started when my Work Comp adjuster refused to authorize a second fusion. It took two years of fighting before it was approved but by then a nerve running down my left leg was damaged.

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My wife has chronic pain and considered a spinal implant device. After doing much research and talking to some doctors I found the following. There are older and newer model devices out there. The newer claim to work better even though the process of implant is the same so I'm not sure why the newer claims are better. Second is that there (according to a doctor) is a high re-implant rate in the first 5 years (20%) apparently to readjust the spinal implants. Third is there probably are no studies done on other parts of the body other than that of the spinal/back and leg. My wife's pain area was never studied so she would be the first to test these devices for her pain area. From what I've read pain in the arm areas was never mentioned. Finally I tried to get clinical study side affect data on more severe side affects like paralysis which a neighbor down the street from us incurred as a result of an implant procedure. None of the companies would provide such data. So I don't know how to view the probability of this severe side affect from occurring.

So while many have had success with these devices we decided not to go through this procedure due to the many unknowns at hand.

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Hello bkruppa, Let me tell you about my experiences with spinal cord stimulators. I had two surgeries on the toes of my right foot. One in 2016 and the other 2018 resulting in a painful stump neuroma in the toes. After consulting with a couple of pain management doctors who don't do SCS thought the only thing left was to try a spinal cord stimulator (SCS) also known I believe as neuroblation. There are three companies that make them. Boston Scientific (Medtronic), Nevro HF10 and Abbott, formerly St. Jude.
The pain management doctor who did the SCS, used the Boston Scientific model. After he explained the procedure, I decided to do the trial which lasted between 5 and 7 days. The two leads are inserted in the back and the battery (generator) is taped to your body. If you get at least 50% improvement they suggest that you get the permanent one, where the make a three inch slit in your lower back near your rump. I'm not sure if I got 50% but the doctor and the Boston Scientific representative convinced me I did. I decided to have the permanent one installed. Unbeknown to me the doctor who did the trial didn't do the permanent one. I was referred to one that did. I had no problem with the generator or leads. I did probably get 50% relief but with Boston Scientific, you do get parathesia, the tingling in the area of the pain. The rep tried to keep reprograming using a laptop and remote device. The tingling wasn't painful, just annoying to me. After two months I had it removed. Nom problem there either. Perhaps, I was too inpatient and should have gave it more time. That was about 2 years ago. I have since tried the 5 day trial with another doctor who used the Abbot DRG device with no luck. I've had many epidurals, RFA's and nerve blocks. Actually, I just had an epidural and MBB, medial branch block two days ago. So far, no relief, but I've been told it may take 3 to 7 days to kick in. If this doesn't work I may talk to the pain doctor about trying the NEVRO. The spinal cord stimulators are designed to block the pain from going to the brain. I've talked to a few people who had foot and leg pain and they got very significant pain relief from the Abbot DRG. I think sometimes the outcomes depends on the skill of the surgeon.

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Hi, over the years I’ve had 3 dorsal column Stimulators (2 made by Medtronic the other by Nevro). I found them to be quite affective however please be very stringent in researching any kind of implanted pain device because many of them are not MRI Compatable. I ended up having emergency surgery to have my all my devices and leads removed so I could receive treatment for severe spinal instability.
I’d been complaining of my back feeling like a concertina that was going to collapse at any time. Of course I didn’t know at the time but that was exactly what was happening. One day I lost bowel/bladder control and it suddenly became a medical emergency. The devices were removed, MRI performed and before I knew it I was having a 6 level spinal fusion.
Even if you are told the device is MEI Compatable ring a few radiology/imaging places and ask then if they do MRI’s with pain devices. Many won’t even though some device company’s approve them. 9 mths prior to my back surgery I had brain surgery across the other side of Australia because no radiology would do a Cranial MRI where I live. Over 4000 to be able to have an MRI.

My pain specialist who put the stimulator in was hesitant to remove it because it was so difficult to put in in the first place. Perhaps if it had been removed earlier I wouldn’t have ended up with such complex circumstances surrounding both brain and spinal surgery. It’s important to remember that if you need one of these devices you probably have chronic pain and your condition may require ongoing imaging to monitor whatever condition it. Please check and double check the information you’re given, I would hate anyone to have to go through what I did

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@patrick17 there is absolutely no doubt the devices had a positive outcome for pain management, especially with the damage I was left with following earlier Spinal trauma. In this respect I highly recommend them. It was just very unfortunate that it meant I could not have an MRI which would have picked up the other deficits I was suffering from earlier.
I can only hope that future developments in pain management come up with a similar device that is MRI compatiable because they really can be very beneficial.

In terms of the different types, the two brands were very different. The Medtronic ones I could feel the tingling in the areas the device was programmed to focus. The Nevro was a high frequency one so I couldn’t feel it working. In terms of the two different devices the Medtronic was good in the sense that each time the cycle stopped/started I would feel it kick in. Of course over time I became semi conscious of this happening so there was no thought process about it. If my pain was really bad I could use the remote to increase or change to another program to seek relief and would feel it tingle faster, stronger etc... The Nevro gave better pain relief for me overall even though I couldn’t actually feel it. Again I could increase or change the program to fit with the varied levels of pain. It really helped with nerve pain in legs/back and neuropathy in feet.
I do remember when it was suggested we try the Nevro and I read all the info, I thought ‘I’m not sure how this is going to work because if I can’t feel is working how is it going to change the pain?’ I was was pleasantly surprised how much it did help.

Whatever you decide make sure you research and ask questions of Drs and other patients who have used pain devices - good luck

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