Hi I'm in the uk and have taken part in a trial in order to have the nevro stimulator fitted. It's only been 6 days and have a question when I'm charging the unit with the paddle the unit is in the top of my buttock it feels really hot I'm not sure if it's the pain from the stitches or the paddle but it felt like my skin was burning . Thankyou
Hi Vonny,
Just based on my own experience (my Nevro unit is embedded in the top of my buttocks as well), I tend to not feel any burning sensation (there is just the very mildest sensation of heat, I can barely feel it). But I have in fact read a number of people in this forum mention that they thought the recharging process was burning them, so you aren't the only one I've heard say that. One thing though (and maybe your doctor and Nevro tech do it differently) - after my unit was implanted, they didn't power it up or turn it on for something like six weeks. They had a number of reasons for waiting (I don't remember all that they mentioned) but one important reason was that I had metallic stitches (technically staples) in my butt, so they didn't want me using the charger until after the metallic staples were removed. You don't by any chance have metallic staples sealing your incision do you? That might be a reason. And also I would imagine that area is very sensitive, having recently been incised - I don't know for sure but I would imagine the area would be extra sensitive even to electrical stimulation, at least until it heals. Perhaps you should ask your doctor and tech if they are sure they want the unit charged and turned on so soon after your surgery - both my doctor and my tech had reasons for waiting almost six weeks before even showing me how to recharge it.
ive had my unit installed just over a year and a half ago. Four back surgeries plus the added benefit of degenerative disc, etc etc. anyways i had minimal benefit but found out couple months ago the company just got approval to utilize different systems within unit to open up ability to increase the stimulators signals and give us increased options to find a setting that might actually work. that being said it takes alot if time and constant communication (remembering to document your progress, and make adjustments which is hard for me because i can get quite distracted with life ) which leads to my current problem , aside from crappy communcation with my Rep, i forgot to charge myself and my unit is off. but i cant get it to turn back on. and my battery pack wont stay turned on and i dont know why. i texted my rep and asked , she replied asking what the issue was , i texted again and the havent heard from her since. that was over a week ago. does anyone have any info on how to get my unit back up and on and why my battery pack wont stay on? thanks !
First off, do you have a Nevro unit or a different brand? I have a Nevro, and I know that if I can't get in touch with my personal rep, there is a general helpline I can call to talk to Nevro staff who are trained service rep. And there is another helpline I can call where they answer more technical questions that the general helpline can't answer. Regardless of the company that makes your stimulator, I'm sure they have both a general helpline and also probably a technical helpline - be sure to find out those phone numbers to call in situations where your rep doesn't call you back quickly enough.
Now as for your battery not recharging - remember it can take upwards of a couple of hours of keeping that paddle touching your body for the unit inside you to power back up from being dead. Also, this may sound like a dumb question, but is your recharger also fully charged as well? You can't recharge the unit inside your body if the recharging unit (the thing attached to the large paddle) isn't also fully charged.
Finally, the recharging unit and paddle should tell you right away whether it is "synched up" to the unit inside your body or not. It will either beep at you constantly and then turn itself off (if you don't have a synch with the unit in your body) or you will see "bars" light up on the recharging unit, telling you you have a good connection and the unit inside you is recharging properly. Are you even getting the lights coming on that indicate a good connection? If they don't synch up then either (a) you aren't placing the paddle on the correct area of your body (I find mine is VERY finicky about being EXACTLY over top of my stimulator unit) or (b) the stimulator unit in your body is malfunctioning and needs to be replaced (which would require a minor surgery).
Double check all those things - does the recharger have a full charge, does the recharger unit indicate it has found the unit inside your body and is recharging it properly and finally, have you left it in place long enough to recharge your unit fully?
Thankyou I seem to be getting better at charging it. Now the stitches have been taken out I find it abit less painful and even managed to get full charge for the last few days thankyou though I have found the helpline number too
According to my rep, the Stimulator goes in to what he called HIBERNATE mode so that you don't lose all your programming and that it can remain like that for quite some time so that you can subsequently charge the battery and not have to get it reprogrammed.
The unit is not going to turn on until it has enough charge. If you let it run down to the point where it went in to hibernate mode, you HAVE to charge it back up first. Once it has a couple of lights indicating on the charger, you should be able to turn it back on. But also be aware that the remote may need to be in proximity to the battery pack/processor to get it to turn on, change programs, increase or decrease signal to leads.
Thankyou I had a faulty paddle they swapped it and it's working fine now thankyou the 1st time it did take ages to charge but now only about an hour till it beeps. Thanks
Thanks for your replies, It had gone to low and then I let it charge for a day and it fired right up, the charging unit only takes 10 minutes to recharge after 1 use, somebody said it took an hour, just be higher the setting the more the battery uses Thanks.
I am learning a lot from reading the postings, and particularly those from Seafarer123. I've had the HF10 installed permanently for a month now and doing pretty well (though hoping for better - still in the adjustment period). One thing I've just learned, but haven't notice anybody mention it: I had quite a bit of trouble getting my charger to be placed correctly, losing the connection several times, having to not move much for the 30 minutes or more it took to fully charge. Now I discovered that I can use the elastic wrap I needed during the first month to help. I put it on with the top just above the implant location, then put the blue circle over a tee shirt, but under the wrap. Now it stays in position with no trouble, while I walk around, eat breakfast, etc., then beeps after I've forgotten it's there. Great help for me!
I might add, after reading about people forgetting to charge (which I've also done): Now I will always charge while fixing/eating breakfast, and will soon notice that breakfast isn't the same if I'm not charging.
Ha! You are so right - I've never mentioned that in any of my posts but it is certainly one of the minor annoyances of the HF10. I tend to recharge at night, at bedtime while my wife and I watch a half-hour or so of TV. My wife giggles sometimes at how often I have trouble just getting the blue charging pad onto the right spot (it is never where I think it should go, i.e. right on top of the battery. It seems to need to be slightly above the unit). And then of course, unless I lie still, if I shift my position even a little the alarm goes off (broken connection) and I have to repeat the search, which definitely gets my wife laughing even more. I should mention that my HF10 unit was implanted in my upper right butt cheek - sounds like yours is implanted above your waist? I must say, I like it being implanted in my butt cheek. Generally my underwear holds it pretty tightly in place and since a butt cheek curves outward, if I am sitting or laying down, my butt does a pretty good job of holding the recharging pad in place. But it is amazing how often I feel the need to fidget in bed, which can easily disrupt the connection no matter how hard my butt cheek is pushing on the paddle.
What works for me is to charge every night when I get in bed. I read for an hour or two every night and have an adjustable bed so adjust up bed to my reading position, place charging pad appropriately commence reading. Most days I will get up right before lights out & put charger back on its connection. Occasionally I'll be sleepy enough that I put on nightstand and plug it back up in morning.
Hello everyone, i just found this site and reading the comments on the Nevro hf10 have been very interesting. I have a question about how each of the program changes the stimulator. I have had mine for about 5 months and am very happy to say it has helped me a lot! I have searched the internet and cannot find anything that explains what happens when you change a program level and what happens when you increase or decrease the lights?My assumption is that the higher the light, the more stimulation there is - and from reading these posts I believe that is true. But what happens when you change the Program from say, a 2 to a 3? I have settled on a setting of Program 2 with all 7 lights turned on. My pain relief has been good for awhile now and during my next tele-med conference for the prescription refills I am happy to say I will be starting to reduce the pain meds for the first time in 12 years. I report into my rep every couple of weeks via text message and my last message included the fact that I have recently noticed that the more activity I do, the more my pain increases. Her comment back to me was that she thought I may have to reduce the lights back to maybe 5 or 6. My thoughts are that with more activity I might need more stimulation/lights vs less. I know she could change the entire program and that is what I thought she might suggest. So, can anyone explain what happens when you change a program up or down one number and what happens when you reduce or increase the number of lights? Thanks for any input anyone may have!!
I have had It since December 2016 I have so much back, hip, feet and leg pain I have trouble walking without it It relieves pain from my hips and legs the lower back and relieves the pain from the neuropathy in my feet you can have an MRI I have had 4 done since 2016 I recently had 1 done 3 days ago and between laying on the hard surface and having the Nevro off when I got off the table my hips and legs hurt so much I could hardly walk I have great difficulty walking without the unit Dr McRoberts recommended it and implemented it. The day before the implementation I could only walk 1200 steps before the pain stopped me. 2 days after the trial implant I did 5000 steps with a reduction of 80% of the pain The technicians at Nevro are amazing. they will return your calls in 24 hours I've received replacement remotes and charging units within 24 hours if I need the unit adjusted they will do it within 1 or 2 days they have adjusted it more than a dozen times they now have a new program that has high and low combined and it works incredible for both my back and my legs and the neuropathy in my feet
I have had the Nevro since December 2016
I have so much back, hip, feet and leg pain I have trouble walking without it
It relieves pain from my hips and legs the lower back and relieves the pain from the neuropathy in my feet
you can have an MRI I have had 4 done since 2016
I recently had 1 done 3 days ago and
between laying on the hard surface and having the Nevro off when I got off the table my hips and legs hurt so much I could hardly walk
I have great difficulty walking without the unit
Dr McRoberts recommended it and implemented it.
The day before the implementation I could only walk 1200 steps before the pain stopped me. 2 days after the trial implant I did 5000 steps with a reduction of 80% of the pain
The technicians at Nevro are amazing. they will return your calls in 24 hours
I've received replacement remotes and charging units within 24 hours
if I need the unit adjusted they will do it within 1 or 2 days
they have adjusted it more than a dozen times
they now have a new program that has high and low combined and it works incredible for both my back and my legs and the neuropathy in my feet
Mark, I am delighted to find folks like you out there, in particular because you have some of the same disappointments since I had my HF10 system implanted almost two years ago. I had a long career in R&D for a highly sophisticated company, and I am totally frustrated, like you, because the promotionals drown out the need for solid mechanistic understanding of how HF10 works or how to improve pain killing performance. I get sporadic short (3-5 days) of significantly improved comfort, but never an explanation of what causes improvement or failure. I occasionally stumble across correlations between setting parameters and comfort, but I am convinced that Nevro simply does not understand their own invention. I offered to help them understand and optimize the system, but got no reply,
I am very interested in airing tips with others about things that work from other registrants---perhaps you've already tried. Any ideas? I have been summarily unsuccessful at learning from the Nevro representatives, I think because they do not know what I need to know. HF10 has all the characteristics of a product that was commercialized before it was ready.
Best, and good luck in defeating your pain.
I just had, four weeks ago, the Nevro HF10 implanted and although I have not experienced any type of relief as of today my biggest complaint is the charging process. Can someone please help, it takes 20 - 30 minutes for me to get the charger to link up and then it does not hold the signal. My rep has sent me out a new charge but I am having the same issues. Any help would be greatly appreciated
I have had my stimulator for a little over two months and it seems that as soon as I think its working and my pain is gone, I wake up in more pain than before I had it installed. My rep has all but disappeared and I have no idea what I need to do other than keep taking pain medication and learn to live with it.
I am also having problems with my charging box that is attached to the paddle. I went to recharge my stimulator tonight and the box showed no power. It has been plugged in all the time so I don't know why I have no power leading to my paddle. Has anyone had this happen before? I have had my stimulator about 1 1/2 years and this is the first this this has happened. I have no idea what to do. Can anyone help please?