In our society, people tend to think there is a cure or a fix for most medical conditions―you go to the doctor and assume he will fix the problem with medication or surgery. But patients living with fibromyalgia, a physiological and neurochemical disease that causes the brain and spinal cord to abnormally process pain signals, are often left to suffer with chronic pain for which there is no known cure. Though it is difficult to pin down the root-cause of fibromyalgia (FMS), the symptoms are highly tangible to the sufferer―chronic radiating muscular and joint pain, depression, painful tender points, fatigue, headaches, and sleep disorders.
Providing successful pain relief for fibromyalgia cases can be very difficult and therapy is often unsuccessful. Frequently, patients are ultimately dependent on pain medications for relief, but this can introduce its own set of problems. Women are ten times more likely to develop fibromyalgia. The chronic nature of the symptoms interferes with job performance and attendance, personal relationships and ultimately dampens the overall quality of life.
FDA-cleared Calmare Pain Therapy Treatment uses a drug-free, non-invasive, biophysical approach to chronic pain relief by transmitting a ‘no-pain’ message to the pain-producing nerve/s via painless surface electrodes applied to the skin consistently over a period of time. Regardless of the intensity of the pain, Calmare can offer a truly viable alternative to medications that only mask the pain temporarily.
After years of research and testing, we selected this revolutionary therapy as a new, non-invasive solution for our own patients suffering with treatment-resistant chronic pain. If you’re a fibromyalgia sufferer, we encourage to you find a Calmare Therapy resource in your geographic area and talk with them about your healthcare challenge. Soon, we will be publishing some of our patient stories who have lessened or even completely alleviated their chronic pain with just ten treatments of Calmare therapy. We look forward to sharing their happy endings with you.
December 25, 2012 at 2:28 am
In response to the Calmare being a tens unit..it is…but, I would assume its not your typical regular tens unit and most likely works very differently to get the results it gets with RSD patients. I am a M.A. clinical & clerical, N.M.T. and a certified Doula. I also sprained my right ankle almost 4 years ago this coming coming Jan 1st, and was diagnosed 5 1/2 mos. later with RSD/CRPS. I was given a regular small tens unit which I had to apply the pads to my lower back and also had leads going down through my clothing to my lower leg. I used it for about 2 weeks. It was very uncomfortable and came to point where it caused my pain to increase with use, so I discontinued it. The unit cost $350.00. I used to work in an Occupational Healthcare and Physio Therapy Clinic years ago, and they had a device I was trained to use in treating patients for pain, and it was called an interferrential unit. It is also a TENS unit, because is uses electrodes for subcutaneous nerve stimulation, but works quite differently from the typical TENS unit and was very effective in relieving patients pain. This particular TENS works on muscles in very rapid contractions and relaxations that quickly fatigues the muscles down for the temporary pain relief. One was a football player injured on field and they carried him in…after 10 minutes of applying the treatment, he got up and walked out on his own, greatly relieved of his pain, where prior he was in agony and tears. It seemed nothing short of miraculous to me. This was a highly sophisticated machine, and only available for purchase by a doctor for use. Since I have been diagnosed with RSD and no longer able to use my regular TENS unit, which it works primarily by closing down the nerve pathways, but it was unsuccessful in relieving my pain, actually causing me more pain.. I was prescribed another form of a TENS unit, but works very differently, called the Alpha-Stim, which opens the nerve pathways,and also releases the alpha brain waves stimulating the bodies own pain relieving endorphins for relief of pain, headaches, and insomnia allowing for 2-4 hours of sleep at a time, and on occasion, even 6hrs. My other friend who has RSD, i told her about it, and she says to me…you can sleep?, as she doesn’t get 1hr of sleep at a time, For most RSD sufferers, this is HUGE. Again, this IS a TENS unit, but works very differently and the manual warns of using this unit along with the regular TENS unit at same time or alternately,…as the two work very differently, They would conflict with each other, and actually cause the body harm. The developers of the Alpha Stim do not like to call it a TENS unit to prevent confusion of the other device which works very differently, but is approved by the FDA under the classification as a TENS unit. I have not tried the Calmare MC-5A unit, but I am definitely intrigued by it…as I only just discovered and been researching it. My knowledge and experience of Tens units, is a machine that uses leads on the skin (subcutaneously) by means of electrical nerve stimulation, thus…classifying it as a TENS unit. There are many different kinds of Tens units, and their effects are different with broad ranges of their effects on the body for different things. The Tesla device, the Rife device, are all TENS units, but with very different specifics in how they work and effects of the conditions being treated. TENS units may use different broadband widths, and different kinds of electrical stimulus, for its very different workings and effects. So just because something is classified as a TENS unit approved by the FDA, which is a very general classification for an array of very specific kinds of nerve stimulus devices….they all are not equal in how they work and their effects, and what they treat, and outcomes…just as not all pills are equal either….but are classified and approved by the FDA as Rx drugs…some are more effective than others because of the differences of the active ingredients put in them for specific treatments of diseases,…just as the differences in the electrical waves, and rythms, and broadband widths, each treat differently a broad range of diseases. I do have a question about the Calmare unit, since it interrupts the pain loop receptors messages received in the brain, as such with RSD/CRPS. If it re educates the pain center of the brain where the brain no longer receives the pain messages from the RSD/CRPS area being treated…pain is usually a warning sign alerting us that something is wrong…so if another physical condition were to start in the body, but the Calmare re-educated the brain to not receive anymore pain messages from the area of treatment…would then the body not receive any warning signs of a new condition arising in that area?, thereby being unknown to not warrant or check into other issues? Ex: RSD stab pains in chest, ribs, and mid back along with GERD symptoms and stab pain in jaw and arm, all heart conditions, aneurysm and pneumonia at the time, have all been ruled out….the MC-5A treatment interrupts the pain loop for that area, and no longer gets the pain messages to the brain giving blessed relief….but then, say a heart condition later arose, but because of the interrupted pain messages to the brain, would the patient not get any symptoms or warnings of heart pain that would normally alert that something else is wrong? Just curious. Its sounds wonderful to be rid of the RSD pain…but other normal pain response is also vital to alert when something else is wrong to warrant investigating of any other issues, would be my only main concern. Is the absence of the haywire pain loop possible with keeping the normal pain warning response intact? I am excited about this new treatment with such positve results with RSD patients. It helps give me renewed hope and would like to give it a try. I am all for whatever treatments that give benefit, without the dangerous side affects of drugs or invasive treatments that risk the spreading of the RSD/CRPS causing more pain than before, and even worse, risk of being permanently wheelchair bound. Do you know of any clinical tials for RSD/CRPS for this therapy that is going on right now? I would like to sign up to be a candidate.
December 27, 2012 at 3:28 pm
Dear Ms. Patterson,
I am sorry to hear about your RSD condition and the degree of suffering you have endured. It regard to your queries, it would be best to talk by phone in detail about your medical history and other therapeudic efforts you have undergone.
I’d be happy to answer your questions as well. I speak with patients every day who are living with RSD / CRPS and fibromyalgia and am happy to do so.
With kind regards,
Dr. Michael Cooney
Calmare Therapy NJ
December 27, 2012 at 3:32 pm
Dear Ms. Patterson, I am sorry to hear about your RSD condition and the degree of suffering you have endured. It regard to your queries, it would be best to talk by phone in detail about your medical history and other therapeudic efforts you have undergone.
I’d be happy to answer your questions as well. I speak with patients every day who are living with RSD / CRPS and fibromyalgia and am happy to do so. i can be reached at 201.933.444-zero.
With kind regards, Dr. Michael Cooney Calmare Therapy NJ
June 23, 2011 at 5:36 pm
The Calmare therapy (Scrambler MC-5A) is an FDA-approved device. It was approved as a TENS device since it does have electrodes applied to the skin that work on affecting the nerves under the skin thus it is a Subcutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulator (TENS) device. But it does work much differently. It’s like saying that a Yugo is a car and a Porche is a car so they must both be the same. They may both be cars but one is much more faster, stronger, and efficient.
http://www.accessdata.fda.gov/cdrh_docs/pdf8/K081255.pdf
It had to be cleared under the TENS category since there is not a separate category for this new technology. The Scrambler works differently than a typical TENS device. Dr. Smith of the Massey Cancer Center noted that in other trials, a typical TENS device was no different from a placebo in controlling pain. In a study he conducted though, the Scrambler therapy recorded a 59% reduction in pain – much larger than the placebo-controlled study. Dr. Smith wrote this in his study findings:
“Placebo was no different from TENS in the two randomized trials for cancer pain treatment. The 59% reduction in pain scores observed here with the MC5-A Calmare is much larger than the improvement reported in the aforementioned
placebo-controlled trials and is similar to the other trials of MC5-A Calmare.”
Dr. Loprinzi of the Mayo Clinic is also studying the Calmare therapy (Scrambler MC-5A) and he has noted that early indications are that it is very effective at relieving pain. Dr. Loprinzi knows the difference between what is a TENS device and what is not. He wouldn’t be conducting multiple studies with the Calmare therapy at the Mayo Clinic if he thought it was a simple TENS device.
Dr. Cooney, I would ignore this poster L. Ryan. He posts as much negative and misleading information as he can about the Calmare therapy on multiple boards. He completely ignores the fact that the Calmare therapy has been used by thousands of people and they have testified to its effectiveness. I don’t know why he likes to see people not try to get pain-relief even though there is video testimonials to it from ex-professional athletes (Bill Bennett, hockey player), a kid struck by lightning (Alex Lambson), and many others. I’m sure you’ve seen it’s effectiveness in your practice.
May 13, 2011 at 9:12 am
Wouldn’t it be more honest to say that Calmare has applied for 510(k) Premarket Notification, than to say you are “FDA- cleared”? In fact, the “Scrambler” was cleared for Premarket Notification based on CTT’s own claim that Calmare was “substantially equivalent” to a “traditional” TENS unit! There has been no other FDA clearance other than their agreement that this technology is equivalent to a TENS. CLICK HERE TO SEE THE THAT DOCUMENT.
May 13, 2011 at 11:41 am
Good Morning L. Ryan:
We appreciate your feedback about our Calmare program. Your comments have been noted and we are in touch with CTTI, as a result. Once we have received a definitive response from them, we can more accurately respond to your post. We will be in touch.
With kind regards,
Rutherford Allied Medical Group
Rutherford, NJ