Flux Health Forum

Diabetic Foot Ulcer A9 experience n=1

Injury Recovery
#1

First of all this post is not meant as medical advice. I am not a physician or in any way affiliated with any of the medical professions. This is just intended to document a singular response (my own), to using the A9 to help heal a chronic issue.

New A9 owner, just wanted to post a progress report.

Prior history, 3+ years non healing plantar DFU left foot, located below second metatarsal. Been under the care of various MDs, Podiatrists, Infectious disease specialists and a hospital wound care clinic. Wound care followed the “gold standard” of total contact cast for over 6 months. Started with a wound of approx 12mm (1/2 inch) diameter, zero infection, ended up with wound of approximately 37mm (1&1/2 inch) diameter plus severe deep infection with two active bacteria, strep aureus and an enterococcus variant. That was 9 months ago.

7/9 Start of ICES PEMF, wound size approx 25.7mm x 16.7mm.

7/19 Current status, wound size 22.9mm x 15.3mm. Statistically significant decrease in size on X axis of > 10%, Y axis decrease of > 8%.

Parameters used: A9 set to M, coils placed stacked over wound bed. Worn at night 7-8 hours per day.

No changes in diet, medication or other contributory factors.

Other item of note, an increase of exudate from wound bed, where previously dry.

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#2

That’s excellent progress IMO for only 10 days. Please keep with it, and please post updates as you feel they would be helpful for everyone to know.

#3

8/1 x axis 20.2mm, y axis 15.0mm. Rate of improvement has slowed a bit but still headed in the right direction. I assumed it would not be linear as there are other factors in play due to its location. I have a special shoe with a customizable offloading insole but it’s not suitable for use in the rain or when doing some tasks, so not being offloaded puts full pressure on the plantar area at times. The offloading insole is supposed to relieve 40% of the weight bearing load and it sure beats what’s offered by hospital based wound care clinics (full contact cast that stays on for a week at a time with no dressing changes or wound irrigation/debridement). Whoever came up with the idea that this is the “gold standard of care” must have never personally experienced it. I get it, a cast to the knee done right can offload some stress from the plantar area, but it just transfers it to the tib/fib area. But done wrong it can and does create secondary wound sites that require additional care.
I still hold onto the hope, maybe in vain, that I will meet a medical professional who can put ego aside and at least be open to the idea that they didn’t learn everything about everything in the course of obtaining that MD.

#4

8/11 19mm x 13.3mm, same protocol, no changes.

#5

8/21 19mm x 11.4mm, no protocol change. Net change in total surface area over approximately 6 weeks, -50%.

A9, stacked coils over wound area at night, 7-8 hours, set on X.

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#6

If I read this correctly, that is spectacularly good. Thanks for sharing this data with us!

If you have any before/mid/after photos, that would be beyond excellent. Apologies if I am asking too much, but many people are “visual”, not number driven thinkers.

#7

This is a before shot, prior to beginning ICES PEMF.

image
image3024Ă—4032 2.27 MB

And this is the most current,
image
image3024Ă—4032 2.15 MB

Note: The scale is different in both, the before was taken from a closer vantage point so the equivalent of zooming in. But the top was 37mm or 1&1/2 inches wide versus the current 19mm approximately 3/4 inch wide.

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#8

Remarkable! So glad the wound is closing for you. It could be the camera angle and lighting, but my observation is that you have more healthy color tones in the rest of your foot as well. This is not surprising to me, as I am using my ICES PEMF M1 to beat the neuropathy in one of my toes.

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#9

That’s fantastic @TajD, yes the upper photo doesn’t do the wound justice. This was prior to debridement but I thought the aftermath of that would be too gory to post. There are two areas where the macerated skin(white) was completely separated from the wound bed.
I am so happy that I found @Bob’s work. Since I began all signs of infection and cellulitis have disappeared. The rate that it’s shrinking is honestly amazing and all of it due to the a9. I can’t thank you all enough for the support on this forum, it’s incredible.

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#10

This is really fantastic. I am so happy for you with this excellent progress. If you are OK with doing so, we should make a serious attempt to collect and present this information so that it can help as many other people as possible. Please do keep all data, pictures (no matter how gory) and your thoughts and observations, so we can decide the best way to make it available to a wider audience.

#11

I am in the process of gathering everything over the three years prior to starting PEMF, A1C records, wound care visits with photos etc. I’ll be more than happy to share. This has made a world of difference that I have to share my experience so maybe some people seeking clarity can see through the marketing fluff and see real world empirical data.

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#12

That’s awesome - so glad you want to share all this. How did you find @Bob’s work? I am also glad the forum is helpful to you. I am a thrilled user (and dedicated forum member) and purchased multiple devices for family and friends and would love to see @Bob’s ICES PEMF devices adopted by people the world over. Seeing other people share their own experiences is very rewarding.

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#13

That really is excellent, thanks.

#14

It’s been two weeks. Currently at 19mm x 10.2mm so definitely slowing down on the rate of recovery but I also had an unavoidable emergency situation that involved quite a bit of walking and I didn’t have time for my usual precautions in terms of wound dressing, so I ended up with quite a bit of maceration around the wound edge. But even this is some progress, I’ll take a net decrease of 10% in one direction over nothing at all.

#15

curious… is this ulcer an infection that prevents it from healing properly (diabetic foot ulcers)?

#16

Currently it is not infected. The rate of healing for any wound is compromised by the underlying condition (Diabetes Mellitus). Neuropathy, blood flow, differences in number/availability of cytokines and also physical factors such as location in a weight bearing area also come into play.

#17

slow improvement is way better than inexorable decay. That’s still good progress IMO, especially under the circumstances. Thanks for the update.

#18

Hi @Choban55, it’s awesome to see your progress. Are you eating nitric oxide boosting foods or supplements (like Berkeley Life Beet Root Capsules)? Are you taking K2 and are you getting enough B12? I am thinking of things I have learned that affect peripheral vasculature. Have you also considered throwing at this a system like Speed Hound, Air Relax, or other type device to further increase circulation?

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#19

I appear to be stalled, I can’t detect any difference with my calipers this week from my usual points of reference, so I must be missing something. So I welcome any input on this that could get me kickstarted again.

Don’t get me wrong, I am grateful for the progress I have made up to now. Have just changed protocol slightly by adding a splitter and the second pair of coils is on top of foot just above the first pair, but instead of stacking them, I’ve decided to try side by side with this second pair.

I should also have my extended battery pack complete tomorrow evening, in the hope I can run extended periods. Currently only using at night but looking to extend that with 4-6 hours during the day. I work in IT and have been remote for over 6 years so I should be able to make it work since my job is a sedentary one.

To answer your questions;
Nitric oxide, no,

D3&K2, yes

B12 injections sourced from Canada, B complex liposomal.

Vitamin C liposomal.

Magnesium - Remag, ReMyte minerals & Pico Zinc.

Collagen hydrogel & a colloidal silver gel for wound bed at dressing changes, approximately every 6 hours.

To be honest, haven’t heard of the other devices, but will start researching right now. Thank you so much for sharing this information. That’s why I love this forum.

#20

The beet root capsules have really helped me. Also, I just purchased a Speed Hound device to see if that can further improve blood flow to my feet. I will let you know if I like it and if it helps me. ICES PEMF is amazing but is naturally throttled by the body’s ability to repair itself which has additional factors like blood flow, cellular energy, nutrients. My line of thinking is that if I can get more blood flow to my feet, I can heal repeated ligament injuries with the coils even more rapidly. That made me think of you and your efforts.

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