HFX™ Spinal Cord Stimulation Therapy for Complex Nerve Pain

Nerve pain is tricky. It can persist long after your illness or injury is resolved and fire off pain signals for no apparent reason. 

Double-board certified pain expert Dr. Jay M. Shah at the SamWell Institute for Pain Management leads the field of pain management and helps our patients throughout Colonia and Livingston, New Jersey, fight pain with the most advanced technology available. 

Many of our patients who suffer from complex nerve pain find lasting relief with HFX™ spinal cord stimulation by Nevro — an innovative advancement on the traditional and time-honored version of spinal cord stimulation (SCS) used for many years. Here’s what it can do for you.

Are you a good candidate for HFX spinal cord stimulation?

Short-term pain can be manageable; it’s your body telling you to protect the injured part and seek help. But sometimes, the nerves responsible for sending pain messages to your brain keep firing long after you’ve healed and can lead to significant neuropathy and neck and back pain. 

Because HFX SCS interrupts and modifies pain signals, it can be an effective treatment for many conditions, including: 

• Failed back surgery/ Persistent spinal pain syndrome/ Post-laminectomy pain
• Failed neck surgery/ Persistent spinal pain syndrome/ Post-laminectomy pain
• Complex regional pain syndrome/ RSD
• Lower back pain and Sciatica
• Pain after hip or knee surgery
• Post-surgical pain in the abdomen/pelvis, knee, or shoulder
• Neuropathy pain from diabetes, post-herpetic neuralgia, or chronic nerve pain conditions

These are just a few painful conditions that respond well to HFX SCS. The system is exceedingly safe and effective for most people (Studies show that up to 80% of candidates respond well to this therapy). Additionally, Dr. Shah will “trial” the device temporarily in a non-surgical fashion to ensure you are a great long-term candidate for the implantation of the small device.

Advantages of the HFX SCS system

Spinal cord stimulation and Neuromodulation aren’t new technology; they’ve been around for many years, but the technological advances have been groundbreaking, with significant studies demonstrating the safety and long-term positive outcomes from their use. The concept is relatively simple: Dr. Shah inserts tiny leads in your back, similar to performing an epidural injection. Those lead wires externally attach to a battery that is dressed and worn for 7 days. Precise pulses of stimulation and energy are sent to the nerves that transmit pain, and your pain dissipates over 24 to 48 hours.

Both types of SCS require a week-long trial period to determine their efficacy. Still, advanced technology and a greater understanding of SCS have led to several significant improvements utilizing HFX technology. 

Primarily, HFX delivers a wider range of frequencies and waveforms, which allows Dr. Shah to personalize your treatment. Specifically, older versions of SCS only delivered low-frequency therapy (about 2-1,200 Hz), but HFX SCS delivers high-frequency therapy (10kHz). It can even combine the two frequencies to offer a highly individualized treatment while also providing 24/7 support within their platform, with a safe and full-body MRI-compatible battery.

What does the higher frequency do for you? It eliminates the tingling sensation that’s common with most SCS models, essentially providing pain relief with no other sensations, also known as “paresthesia free.” When you begin to feel pain with older versions, you activate the device, which interrupts the pain signals and stops your pain. However, it also creates a pins-and-needles feeling called paresthesia. HFX SCS offers relief without the tingles so that you can resume your life with no reminder of your pain at all

HFX also significantly improves upon the ability of traditional spinal cord stimulation to address low back and leg pain using advanced technology 

Another benefit of HFX is that we can program it to provide relief even while you’re sleeping or driving. Since you don’t have to worry about paresthesia, it won’t wake you at night or startle you while cruising down the highway.

Finally, HFX SCS enables you to reduce or eliminate the use of medications to treat your pain and can help you delay or avoid surgical intervention. 

To find out if HFX spinal cord stimulation can reduce your pain, schedule a consultation with Dr. Shah by calling either of our two offices or booking online.