An Adelaide grandmother who once struggled to walk because of chronic back pain has hiked around Mount Fuji after receiving an Australian-developed spinal cord stimulator implant.
Carol Van Der Pennen spent five years living with debilitating pain following a crash in which her vintage Rolls-Royce was rear-ended at 80km/h. She said the injury affected her sleep, concentration, independence and ability to enjoy everyday life.
“With constant pain you can’t think, you can’t sleep and your mental processes are totally scrambled,” she said.
Doctors implanted the new device in February. Unlike traditional spinal cord stimulators, it automatically adjusts the electrical treatment in response to changes in the patient’s body.
“From the moment it was switched on, the pain stopped,” Ms Van Der Pennen said.
The implant sends electrical pulses intended to disrupt pain signals before they reach the brain. Pain specialist Matthew Green said its automatic adjustments could avoid some of the unpleasant or unnecessary stimulation associated with older devices.
“It doesn’t provide unpleasant, unnecessary or unwanted stimulation,” Dr Green said.
The technology was developed in Australia and received approval from the Therapeutic Goods Administration earlier this year.
For Ms Van Der Pennen, who had previously relied on a walking stick, the results have allowed her to travel overseas and explore Japan, including hiking around Mount Fuji.
“It’s given me my life back,” she said.
She has also returned to driving a vintage car and is planning her next adventure, describing the implant as “set and forget”.
