Comparison of Spinal Cord Stimulators from Boston Sci., Nevro

My Pain Management Physician gave me a brochure on the NEVRO HFX SCS and I wanted to know if anyone has used this model and whether or not you have had success with it. Thanks

Thanks for your response. The Medtronic’s SCS apparently uses different frequencies than HFX. I was very happy with it for the most part. Never discovered why it stopped working.

With the Nevro scs you never feel the stimulation, that's a great feature with their system.
Patient support is great. If there is a malfunction they will address it and take care of it.
The company and physician who inserted it, would never leave you in the dark about any malfunction.
You can seek a pain physician in your area who uses the Nevro system and they will switch out your current one and attach theirs.

When my Medtronic’s unit seemingly died, I swapped out the Medtronic’s battery for the NEVRO battery. Did not provide relief either. Upon testing, it was suggested that the paddle lead had developed issues, including sever burned out electrodes. So, no relief. The old paddle along with everything else was removed in May of 2023. Tried new SCS but too much scar tissue to get a new lead in place. So now it’s all on this pain pump that I’ve been trying to get adjusted for over two years.

Best wishes and hoping this will give you the pain relief you need.

Just read of big law Suite with the spinal cord stimulators. I had one that almost shocked me to death. Wanted to join the suit but can't find my documentation.

Spare me.

This is very interesting! I had my first NEVRO placed 7.5 years ago and about 2 years ago it started shocking me - badly! They swore it was impossible to be shocked but after three months of screaming in restaurants, church, stores, home, and other places where my body involuntarily responded to the shock I insisted it be replaced and it was. Unfortunately I did not listen to my doctors who warned me that NEVRO was experiencing significant employee turnover and customer support issues as well as quality issues with the newer products. All of these have affected me significantly since I had the new NEVRO stimulator placed about 1.5 years ago. It is next to impossible to get a call back for program updates - or any other issue for that matter! For example, the charger for my stimulator failed yesterday and I left messages over two days and zero response so my pain level has escalated. I have also read another person’s post on the same charger-failure issue and he was told it would take 2 WEEKS to get a new charger! Seriously? They can’t spend money to overnight a charger? I am calling my surgeons tomorrow to find a way to replace this NEVRO device with one from a different company. I did not have this invasive and risky surgery done to have an uncomfortable bulge in back with no benefit.

There are likely many people who have had success with this SCS. The important thing is to have the trial, in which you have temporary leads impanted in your intrathecal space and an external battery pack that you wear. Then you give it a try for 5-7 days. Then, if you had decent pain relief(at least 50%), you can go ahead with the permanent implant. Sometimes, the permantent implant doesn't always give you the same relief as the trial. I had the Medtronic SCS trial and implant back in 2018. The trial gave me about 80% pain relief. The permanent implant gave just 50%. But, along with some meds, I was able to get back to cycling, hiking, and working around the house. Not quite 100% normal, but pretty good. Wish you well on your journey.

My unit was put in by a anesthesiologist. Duke health in Raleigh, NC. No location for the internal power unit was ever discussed. Had to have it removed to different location. 48 staples were placed, because the anesthesiologist had no suturing skills. My experience is the high frequency (10,000Hz) does nothing to help. Had to switch to the 80 hz and this has helped but kills the battery in 3 days. Stay away from the Nevro unit. They are egotistical about the high frequency 10,000 Hz. Dr. J