One of the treatments that I have used for previous foot surgeries and for my current fusion surgery is bone stimulation therapy. I've gotten several questions about it, so I thought it might be good to explain it and to talk about the pros and the cons. I'm not endorsed or anything for writing my blog, so I'll just talk about my experience and what science has said about it. :)
A lot of times, whether because of habits, nutrition, age, etc--fractures have difficulty healing. This can cause a non-union in the bone where it doesn't fuse together. Bone growth (osteogenesis) stimulators use pulsed electromagnetic or pulsed low-intensity ultrasonic energy to "jumpstart" bone cells into growth. They are also prescribed to healthy patients with fresh fractures to encourage accelerated bone growth. They can be strapped to an arm, leg or other body part—over a cast or brace and used daily at home. You don’t feel the energy or anything that the machine emits. Here's a good video by Dallas Podiatry that shows how to use it:
https://www.dallaspodiatryworks.com/how-to-use-a-bone-growth-stimulator-for-fracture-healing/
Do they work? The science is out there, but like most things, is "inconclusive". When bone stimulators were first studied in clinical trials years ago, they were shown to accelerate healthy bone growth by 36 percent, and non-unions by over 80 percent. Since then, there have been additional studies that have suggested that those numbers aren't as high.
Did it work for me? Well, I began bone stimulator treatment in 2009 for my bunionectomy. At that time, they were relatively new, and unfortunately, my insurance didn't even cover the cost. The machine was over $1000 out of pocket for me. I was NWB for 6 weeks, but after using the stimulator for 3 weeks at 20 min/day, I was able to reduce my NWB time to just 4 weeks after x-rays showed that my healing process was ahead of schedule.
Fast forward almost ten years later, and insurance companies are almost always covering the machines, especially in the case of non-unions. This surgery calls for me to be NWB for 8-9 weeks, and I started the bone stimulation at 3 weeks, so I'm anxious to see what the results will be. I have x-rays tomorrow for my Week 5 checkup, so we will be able to have some type of indicator.
At the end of the day, all studies done have shown that the devices definitely don't have any adverse effects, so they are definitely worth a try if your insurance will cover them with a doctor's prescription.
My bone stimulator is an Exogen system, and it still works
Will report what we find out after my appointment tomorrow!
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