A treatment available here on the First Coast says it’s the least invasive procedure that completely eliminates pain and the need for opioids.
Opioids which are at the center of a crisis in the United States.
Gail Williams lived a healthy lifestyle before she got breast cancer.
“I had a double mastectomy and 11 days after, I got a really bad case of shingles, Williams said. "The pain was intense, it was really bad.”
She says injections and pain pills didn’t work, and her entire left side was in constant pain.
Her doctor offered Stimwave as an alternative.
“We did the trial, which lasted about two weeks, and it was like a switch," Williams said. "The pain stopped the minute it turned on.”
Her active lifestyle has been restored, thanks to the device.
“It’s small enough that it can be threaded through a standard needle,” said Dr. Harsh Dangaria.
The Stimwave can be injected into the area of pain.
A patch on your skin can manage how much stimulation the body area receives.
Dangaria says this small device can eliminate the need for opioids, which the national institute on drug abuse says causes over 130 cases of overdose in the U.S. every day.
“So as a pain management physician, our goal is to minimize opioid use whenever possible or to not prescribe opioids at all,” Dangaria said.
Opioids, which people like Williams have been able to strike out of their routine completely.
“If this could help someone suffering from chronic pain, that’s amazing," Williams said. "If they want to find relief without medication, gels or patches, this is ideal.”