Bone Growth Stimulation

Our Approach: Add It When the Biology Needs Help

A bone growth stimulator is a wearable, FDA-cleared device that delivers low-level electrical or ultrasonic energy to a healing bone, supporting the cellular activity that fracture repair and surgical fusion depend on. It is an adjunct, added deliberately when your imaging and risk profile justify it — not a default for every fracture.

We add stimulation when healing is stalled or at elevated risk: fractures showing delayed union on follow-up imaging, established nonunions, and fusion patients with risk factors such as diabetes, smoking history, poor circulation, or a prior failed fusion. The decision is based on what your X-rays actually show over time.

Recognizing the Signs: When Healing Is Not on Track

Signs that a fracture or fusion may not be progressing include pain at the fracture site persisting well beyond the expected timeline, tenderness directly over the bone months after injury, and imaging that shows little change between follow-up visits.

Certain patients are flagged for closer monitoring from the start — those with diabetes, smokers, patients on long-term steroids, and anyone with a previous nonunion. In those cases we often plan for stimulation early rather than waiting to discover a problem months later.

Recovery: Consistency Is the Whole Game

Treatment is painless. Most devices are worn for a set period each day — commonly around twenty minutes, depending on the unit — over a course of weeks to months, guided by follow-up imaging.

The only variable that reliably determines whether stimulation helps is whether you actually use it on schedule. It works on the days it is worn. We help with insurance authorization, which most plans require for these devices, and monitor healing with imaging so the treatment ends when the bone is genuinely united rather than on an arbitrary date.