Hi Kandi,

I have never used a bone stimulator (never broke anything - touch
wood), so I checked a quick search.  I did find this:

****A bone stimulator is a small box, about the size of a package of
cigarettes. It is usually worn at the waist. It has two wires leading
from, which run down inside the pants leg. A sticky pad is applied to
the skin above and below the fracture site and the wires are attached
to the sticky pads.

There is no sensation of any sort. The EBI bone stimulator sets up an
electrical field about the fracture site. It does not vibrate or cause
any electrical sensation. ****

Keep in mind, this was from an unmoderated board, and the poster signs
off as Dr. B...

Here's hoping that you find better information from someone else here
(they are much wiser than I).  I will keep you in my thoughts and
prayers.

Smokie Darling (Annie)

Kandi,

Why don't they consider hip replacement?  I don't know why they didn't do
something different from the very beginning.  They operated on my dad the
very night he broke his hip and two years later he had to have it replaced.
I just don't understand how they can watch you suffer.

I think if you are even paying a little bit, even $5 a month I don't know
what they can do.  I'm so sorry things have been so rough for you.  I've
been keeping up with you from the time you broke your hip.  I wish you had
better news and I hope the new year will be a better one for you.

debbie m.
http://www.angelfire.com/ga2/angels1/

Kandi, I don't have any info about the stimulator, but having gone through
the pain before my THR I can sympathize with the continuing pain you are
having.  I do pary you can get some relief very soon.
Gwen

Hi Kandi,

I'm wondering if it's possible for you to have a bone scan (cheaper than
an MRI) to exclude osteonecrosis as the reason the fracture hasn't fully
healed?

Ari

Hi Kandi,

My son had electro bone growth stimulation when he blew out both his hips while
running in high school track. They pinned his hips back together then applied
the stimulation to aid in healing. He remembers it felt like just a little
tingle in his hips.

Electrical bone growth stimulation has been used & approved by the FDA for
years. It is an entirely painless way to stimulate slow healing bone to grow by
producing a small electrical field around the injured area.

I can tell you that it is a device used in sports medicine to help athletes to
heal faster from bone injuries.

Sending Good Thoughts,
{{{Kandi}}}

GramPaHugs,
Alex,

--

Any information is included for informational
or entertainment purposes only, is based on my
personal experiences & is an expression of my opinion.
No endorsement is implied or intended.
 
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Kandi,

I don't have any answers for you but wanted you to know I am thinking of you
and have been. I was wondering what was going on with you.

I am glad you did make it back here and share with us so that we know how to
direct our prayers and thoughts to you.

Wishing you the best outcome with this. I hope the stimilator will be the
answer and that your pain will cease.

Kandi,

I have used an EBI Bone Growth Stimulator system. I will give you the
facts of my injury, my initial prognosis, and the eventual outcome.
Details of the EBI system will be included.

Basically, I fell approximately 40 feet while doing something dumb. My
daughter and I were cleaning up at the gymnastics facility where she
practices/competes when she asked me if I could 'climb the rope and
ring the bell at the top'. The rope is obviously there as a
conditioning tool for the gymnasts and it hangs slightly above a ten
foot deep landing area (pit) that is filled to the top with foam. The
pit is basically square with 15 foot sides and is primarily used by the
gymnasts to safely land new/difficult moves until they are confident
and comfortable trying it on the 'real' landing areas. To make a long
story short, I climbed the rope fairly quickly and rang the bell.
Then...I looked down! All I could think about was how bad the blisters
would be on my hand's from sliding down the rope. After a minute or so
my daughter said 'just let go and fall into the pit...the girls do it
all of the time'. So...without giving her suggestion too much thought I
let go. The fall was much quicker than I was prepared for and I
basically hit the pit straight as a pencil. Being the bullet I turned
myself into, I was not even slowed down by the foam and hit with my
right foot...which quickly rolled to the outside. Since I was
unemployed at the time and had no insurance, my daughter (10 yrs old at
the time) said 'we'd better not tell mommy what really happened' since
we were struggling a bit financially. So we told her a little white
lie, saying that I rolled/sprained my ankle while stepping into the
soft 'resi' mat. For all I knew, the injury was just that...a severely
sprained ankle...especially since I (somehow) was able to limp my way
out of the gym.

X-rays the following day did not show anything broken ( the reason
being, the bone that was broken was my talus bone-which sits in the
middle of the ankle - hidden in this case by the inside and outside
bones [tibia/fibula] when taking side view x-ray's). Since it was
literally broken right down the middle vertically, a front view x-ray
did not show the break. The doctors treated it as a severe sprain, and
knowing I had no health insurance, they did not feel it was necessary
to schedule an MRI. As time went by I began trying to rehabilitate the
ankle via intense physical therapy...and it did nothing but
hurt...immensely!!

I found some consulting work as a Project Mgr at a Nuclear Plant in
Missouri (3 months) and Vermont (3 months). Let me tell you, when you
work in a nuc plant, you do a 'LOT' of walking, climbing, etc... I
assumed the constant popping sound my ankle was making was caused by
ligaments, that were still loose in the ankle, sliding over the bone.
Twenty steps at a time was about all I could take prior to stopping in
severe pain, resting for a bit, and then continuing on.

Following those six months of work, and still having major issues with
the ankle pain, I had accumulated enough cash to get an MRI done to
take a closer look. The MRI was as clear as day. The Talus bone was
fractured down the middle (again vertically) and slightly displaced
from all of the walking I did. Additionally, the bone obviously
attempted to heal numerous times over the previous six months...you
could actually see the calcium growth in several places on the broken
portion of the bone. All of the popping sounds I was hearing while
walking on the ankle was not caused by loose ligaments...it was the
bone re-breaking, over and over, after it would 'attempt' to heal.
Unfortunately, I am now a case study for conferences and included in
some sort of teaching manual for orthopedic ankle specialists.
Basically, the doctors could not believe that I actually walked with
this fracture for six months, and that although the broken bone was
slightly displaced, it was still in a position that gave them options
to possibly fix the break. After the team of Doctors consulted with
ankle specialists throughout the U.S., the decision was made to place
two screws into the talus bone pieces and pull them together to ensure
alignment. The prognosis they provided, however, was not too great.
Since the inside of both pieces of bone had calcified over numerous
times while it was trying to heal on it's own, the likelyhood of the
bones fusing after the surgery was very low. Additionally, the talus
bone is notorious for having a small blood supply that actually enters
from the bottom of the bone. It's common for the blood supply to be cut
off from the bone completely...or for the supply not to cross over the
healed union to the rest of the bone. In either case, the loss of blood
supply eventually causes the bone to 'die' and eventually collapse.
Ankle fusion is often performed at this time with some type of
'replacement' bone graft - or 'artificial' joint that freezes the ankle
movement in several ways. I was told that I would likely require a cane
to get around once the surgery had healed and to be prepared for
chronic pain - also to accept the reality that the bone may eventually
collapse and require fusion.

The surgery was performed and I was placed in a cast that came up to my
knee. I had very strict instructions from the Dr. to 'not' touch the
cast on the ground or push off of anything with my right leg/ankle for
12 weeks. I followed his instructions and, while speaking to a
Physicians Assistant in Pennsylvania (Bob - best friend - worked for a
sports orthopedic firm)...Bob asked me if the doctors had prescribed an
EBI Bone Growth Stimulator for me to use. I had no clue what he was
referring to, but he said the the EBI rep in his area 'owed him a
favor' and that he could likely get me hooked up with a unit. At the
time, a majority of insurance agencies were not considering the use of
this device as a cost effective means for it's purpose and had doubts
about its abilities. Therefore, if a patient (or Dr.) wanted to utilize
the the device...it had to come out of their own pockets (and it is/was
pretty expensive). Bob came through with his promise and had his rep
call the local rep where I am located and I was able to get an EBI BS
within a few days. My Doctors were pleased that I would be using the
device...indicating that since insurance does not cover the devices,
they are usually beyond the means of most patients and are generally
not considered.

The device basically has an bendable oval shaped ring, roughly an inch
wide and covered with fabric (comfortable enough to wear directly on
your skin) that conforms to the area you need to be 'stimulated' and
straps with velcro to hold it in place. This 'ring' is attached to a
controller unit that is battery operated. The battery/controller comes
with a 120V charger. The unit also comes with a pouch that attaches to
a provided belt and/or comes with a belt clip. The size of the
controller is roughly 1.5 inches thick, 3 inches wide, and 4.5 inches
tall. It's very easy to use...especially since an EBI rep typically
delivers the unit and explains everything. I wore the device a minimum
of 8 hours/day (I believe) ...the more the better (again, I'm sure the
more hours the better...but it may be to a maximum of 10hrs/day).
Basically, the controller unit sends out an electromagnetic field that
produces a small electrical current, very similar to what the body does
naturally to signal the bone to begin healing in the first few weeks
after a fracture. As far as I can recall, there is nothing to feel
while the unit is running...even if there was any amount of vibration
it was not something that I recall. I wore the unit over my cast for 12
weeks (the signal easily penetrates the cast) and then directly on the
ankle when I began rehab. One more item of note...you can wear it such
that it is not real visible. For a hip, depending on the location of
the break, I'd imagine you'd have to wear pants that provided a little
extra room in the waist to thigh area (sweat pants, baggy pants - if
you're into that style,...) if you wanted to conceal the coil ring
inside your clothes. However, the coil ring will easily send it's
signal through your clothes if worn on the outside. One last item to
help you understand how the stimulator works - at least this is the way
it was explained to me:

The small electrical current that reaches the bone emulates the signal
your body naturally produces during the first few weeks after a
fracture occurs and begins the healing process. From what I understand,
this small current actually creates very small micro-tears on the bone
that actually force the body's natural reaction to send in the troops
to heal the bone.This process continues while using the stimulator and
aids the fusion of the fractured bone.

Ok, now a bit more about the outcome of my ankle. After removing the
cast @ 12 weeks, an x-ray was taken (at the proper angle to see the
talus bone...I might add) and the Doctors were absolutely shocked. The
bone had completely healed and the two screws did not move at all (in
other words, the bone did not shift any during healing - which would
have created a major issue since this bone 'is' the inner joint of the
ankle and it's spacing in respect to the other bones in the ankle is
critical). The bone also, quite clearly, had retained the blood supply
and it provided blood to 'both' sides of the bone - through the
fracture site.

That's all I'll share here...because the story actually continues on
with miraculous success, unprecedented healing for that type of Talus
injury, and...instead of walking with continuous joint pain and a
cane...I can actually play tennis and have no limitations. I believe,
beyond a shadow of a doubt, that the bone stimulator significantly
helped the fracture heal (along with a certain SOMEBODY from above).

Oh, by the way, my daughter and I came clean to my wife on what really
happened a few weeks after feeling horrible about our little white lie.
My wife understood.

Hope this helps...and sorry it's so long!!!