bionicare

[Guest guest]

Hi everyone,

I haven't been home for over 2 weeks so I'm way way behind on what's

happening with the group. I don't post all that often either, so i'm

not very well known.

As a refresher, I'm a new RA patient, just been on MTX for 8 weeks now

and my doctor wants to put me on a treatment plan for my hands and

wrists that's called BioniCare. Has anyone in the group been treated

with this device? It's a complicated electronic device where you wear

3 different gloves on your hands, an electric device that wraps around

each upper arm just under the arm pit, and then attaches to electronic

wires that are attached to a shirt that you wear preferably 10 hours a

day. Recommending wear at night. I have small hands, wrists and they

don't fit right, i have had the device for 2 weeks but have only worn

it once. It turned my fingers black and stained my cuticles, so i

called the representative and they are looking into the problem and

told me not to wear it until they contact me again. It's a difficult

item to put on without help, which is my situation most of the time.

It also is uncomfortable to sleep with because the electronic square

box that turns the unit on also fits into a pocket of the shirt that

is worn and it makes for a very uncomfortable sleep.

I was just wondering if anyone in the group has tried this and if so,

whether they felt positively abouts their results. I'm told that it

could take several months before noticable relief is achieved. I just

wonder if it's worth the trouble. Once I have one hand fully gloved,

it's nearly impossible to function well enough to get the other hand

in the gloves. Then, assuming that you can get both hands into the

gloves, it's like wearing mittens to put on and fasten the velcro on

the shirt, and attaching the wires too. I'm ready to quit before I've

even begun.

Looking forward to responses from the group. I hope you all have a

pleasant pain free night.

Take care,

Les