Question 1

What will I do with the kit?

Accepted Answer

The  function the ORK (Orthopedic Recovery Kit) is to accelerate the healing process and reduce pain by controlling inflammation. Your physical therapist will show you how to use the bioelectronic and cryotherapy (electronic stimulation and cold therapy). There are also instructions and protocols for most common joint replacement surgeries online and you receive access with your order.

This equipment can be used  for Prehab, Postop and Recovery, and Rehab.

Use in place of, or in addition to other medications. (1)

Prehab - Reducing inflammation is related to less pain. If your surgical schedule permits, your physician or physical therapist may begin rehabilitation before surgery. Strengthening muscles around the joint leads to better outcomes.

Postop & Recovery - In the hours and days immediately following surgery are where the impact of best managing inflammation and edema  are seen, and felt. 
 • Less postop recovery tissue damage from inflammation
 • ULMA (Ultra Low Micro Amp) electrical stimulation is a bactericidal - reduces surgical site infection risk

Rehab - Accelerated healing processes, faster recovery time between therapy sessions
 • Better ROM at start of PT
 • Start and complete PT sooner with improved outcomes

(1) Per your healthcare professional's instruction.

Question 2

How soon will I feel something using the ORK after surgery?

Accepted Answer

Assuming your surgical care team applied bioelectronics and cryotherapy in the recovery room, you will likely not feel anything when you come out of anesthesia as the intensity will be set to a low level. But, the work of controlling inflammation began as soon as you were "wired and wrapped".

The care team will have swapped out the first set of First Ice bags at about 2 hours, or before you leave the surgery center if outpatient. It is interesting to note that even though FirstIce bags typically last 4+ hours, they are changed in 2 hours. This is because in a typical TKA (Total Knee Arthroscopy) there is so much post surgical swelling and rise in tissue temperature that heat is transferred from the joint to the cold therapy bags at about twice the normal rate.

The ability to begin management of post-surgical inflammation and edema immediately saves tissues and moves the healingprcess forward more quckly.

You may feel some sensation of low current, if it is uncomfortable simply turn the intensity down. When you turn the intensity up, it helps even further with pain. Inflammation and pain are correlated. As inflammation increases, so does pain.  
The goal for using the ORK in the first 1-3 days after surgery is to modulate inflammation, which results in less pain.

Question 3

How does this actually work? What does it do?

Accepted Answer

Both cold therapy and microcurrent (cryotherapy and bioelectronics) have significant impact modulating inflammation and edema.(https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/12564-edema) How this improves outcomes and accelerates healing with procedures like joint replacements is explained by our Medical Director, Dr. Robert Schaefer, orthopedic surgeon, in this short video (2:24).(https://youtu.be/IcBjequrszI?si=Wwd6VWl3tEbay-z7)

Bioelectronics -Bioelectronics (also referred to as “electrotherapy”), specifically frequency aligned sub 500µ DC microcurrent (not TENS), and “safe and easy” cold therapy options accelerate healing. They are also effective when used adjunctively for wound care.(https://www.bio-rtech.com/bioelectronics)

The way it works (Mechanism of Action) is complex, but DC microcurrent makes biological changes at the cellular level that accelerate the healing process while modulating inflammation, all without drugs. It is also a bactericide, combatting surgical site infections.

Cryotherapy - Despite a long and broad body of evidence supporting cold therapy as highly effective at modulating inflammation, many orthopedic surgeons do not want their patients to use ice because it and gel pack are often too cold and can actually impede the healing process by slowing microcirculation.

Plus most cryotherapy or cold-therapy devices are expensive, cumbersome, and still must be monitored so they do not get too cold and negatively impact healing and devices involve and many devices requires gallons and gallons of ice per week. These high-end devices are expensive, can cost payers up to $100 per day, and require patients to be plugged in during therapy. Patients using the ORK  are as mobile as their care giver gives them permission to be.

Safe Ice - patented phase state change materials have been engineered to stay at or about 41F (safe), be easy to use, and last 4-5 times longer than the best gel pack technology. This breakthrough innovation in cold therapy will allow the patent holders to garner enough market share to broadly commercialize with a low-cost solution that is more effective.

Optimized DC microcurrent has a profound biological impact at the cellular level. Layering controlled cryotherapy even more effectively modulates inflammation.

Question 4

Does my insurance cover this?

Accepted Answer

You can purchase ORKs (Orthopedic Recovery Kits) kits with a HSA (Health Savings Account) or FSA (Flexible Spending Account), and your physician,  PT, or qualified health professional is able to bill the time they spend instructing you on how to use the system, but it is not reimbursable by Medicare or most insurance companies.

We have chosen to keep the cost to patients and the burden on the healthcare system as low as possible. Most kits are about $365 less your physician discount. (Use code at checkout.)

Question 5

No drugs?

Accepted Answer

None. But it is an extremely effective adjunct therapy with biologic effect.

Data indicates that using bioelectronics and cryotherapy reduce the volume of analgesics prescribed.

Question 6

Why is microcurrent so effective during sleep?

Accepted Answer

• The body’s circadian rhythm goes into a biological process of regeneration.
 • Insulin-like growth factors and fibroblasts (https://www.genome.gov/genetics-glossary/Fibroblast)are more active.
 • Promoting microcirculation while sleeping enhances the body's natural healing process.
 • 70% of growth hormones  are produced during Phase 3 sleep, which speeds up cell regeneration.

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