United Brachial Plexus Network, Inc.

Ben, 10 years old, had mod quad surgery in Nov.2001. He has seen a lot of movement and is impressed with what he can do. The OT and PT are working with e-stim quite a bit and say he responds well. What does anyone know about this treatment and has there been any benefits?

hi susan- although we do not use NMES ourselves I have heard from many that they have gotten good results

here's some more information about it

http://www.injurednewborn.com/maia/estim.html

do you have any further specific questions about it?

Also - is ben interested in having a pen pal?

-francine

Francine, thanks for the reply! I really don't have questions only because I don't know enough about it to ask questions----yet. As we go, I might. I'll check the website you gave-thanks. Ben might enjoy having a pen pal--we would be interested in starting, so let us know.

Hi Susan, we are in the same boat with the estim...although I have heard a couple different things...one is that it does work with even low stimulation...and then I heard that it does not work unless it is on a high setting, in which case it would hurt the child...I am still asking questions about this and considering the sources I have spoken wiht I am inclined to say that it does work even on a low setting as we have seen with our daughter and straightening her elbow..... Also I am the pen pal co-ordinator so if you or Ben would like a pen pal..please fill out the request from the message board or just email me at mommie2girls@hotmail.com and I will get you matched up..

Thanks, Tami Schenck

Hi Susan, this may be a duplicate...sorry if it is....I have heard two different opinions about estim, one is that it is good on low stimulation, the other is that it has to be high in order for it to work, which could hurt the child...I am still asking questions regarding our 2 1/2 year old daughter and estim and we have seen progress with it on low...
Also, I am the pen pal co-ordinator so if you or Ben would like a pen pal, please fill out the form on the message board or just email me at mommie2girls@hotmail.com....
thanks,
Tami Schenck

any of you going to the Ohio picnic? I think that there will be a doc there who is an e-stim specialist (have to verify this with Karen and also it's an Ohio doc)

if you are not going to the picnic, email me all your questions and I will ask her for you ok?

-francine

Blake used estim for a year(we're starting again next week) for triceps and it helped him, although he began to plateau, so TCH said to take a break for a while. We have a FOCUS nmes unit, and we could only set it on the #10-15 setting, which is extremely low and it brought us good results. It does hurt if it is turned up too high, I think that it is hard to get a child to tolerate it at all, let alone turning it up so high...I tried it on the lowest setting on myself and it was painful, and I have a high pain tolerance.

Good luck and I hope you get the results you are looking for.

marlin is doing estim almost every day, our ot says that according to the latest research doing estim while preforming tasks is the most beneficial method. we have noticed a big improvement since she began this round of therapy. before we tried estim at night. it was always a problem either the battery went dead marlin pulled the wires out, once she jumped into the bath tub with it on. that was scary,

Thanks for the replies---Ben is doing well with the e-stim and the OT and PT want to continue..I'll keep you posted.