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Anyone had an Abbott SCS put in? BurstDR strength setting?
I'm curious to know what strength setting your spinal cord stimulator is set at for anyone implanted with an Abbott device that uses BurstDR technology.
I had a good trial and significant pain reduction after my permanent implant, but feel like the device has become less effective over time. I'm now 6 months post-op and feel like the device is no longer providing much relief at all.
I have a follow up appointment with my surgeon and the device rep in two weeks but want to experiment with different settings between now and then. However, I know it's possible to overstimulate the nerves and create irritation and pain at settings that are too high. My initial strength setting was at 7, then I increased to 8 a couple of weeks post-op. I briefly increased to 9 after a muscle spasm flare up and then returned back to 8.
I felt a little more confident experimenting with settings on my Medtronic device with tonic stimulation, but the Abbott BurstDR technology is more difficult to determine the delayed impact of adjustments due to the lack of paresthesia.
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@stevenla313 my theory on this is that during the trial you have activity restrictions and aren't doing that much because you have the leads implanted but are wearing the battery externally. So, you could be resting more during the trial instead of following your normal activity routine.
To the best of my knowledge and recollection, the same technology is used during the trial even if the external battery may look different from the one that is implanted.
@stevenla313
My second pain doc indicated that they would need to order one which I took to mean that they don't keep one around and deducing from that that if it helps then they implant the test one they bring in. The electrode has to be in the right spot and one has to be an invalid for 6 weeks after implanting and healing to ensure that the electrode stays where it's supposed to be. Doing activities that may dislodge it is a no no. HTH.
@stevenla313
From my experience, they do not.
The trial was an Abbott, but in December 2024, it was a device strapped eternally. I tried both the Burst then the Eterna. One was non-chargeable, but a larger unit, which extended out, causing many people to ask what it was on my slim frame; I then swapped it out 9 months later for a chargeable unit, but smaller. After having the SCS off for three weeks while going through airports and not realizing the unit was off, I had it removed. I didn't see any difference with our without it. As one viewer mentioned, the trial appears to work well, while the real implant doesn't. There appears to be more work needed to have it effective.