Axonics therapy is a form of sacral nerve stimulation designed to help people with bladder and bowel incontinence when conventional treatments fail. By implanting a tiny device near your spine, Axonics restores communication between your sacral nerve and brain. While its benefits are remarkable, it is crucial to understand the possible Axonics side effects before undergoing the procedure.
Benefits of Axonics
Before discussing Axonics side effects, it’s worth mentioning its advantages:
It helps manage bladder incontinence better
Several causes of urinary incontinence include pregnancy, neurological disorders, injury in the pelvic region, and prostate cancer.
Other health conditions like a stroke or multiple sclerosis can also cause you to lose bladder control.
While medicine helps in most cases, some cases may be slightly difficult to resolve with conventional means.
This is where Axonics therapy comes in.
Axonics therapy significantly reduces your urge to urinate and your urinary leak episodes.
Additionally, it can help you sleep better, which is a plus if you struggle with an unhealthy sleep pattern.
It can reduce bowel incontinence
The most common causes of bowel incontinence are injuries suffered from childbirth and aging.
Getting an Axonics device implanted in your spine can help reduce your involuntary fecal leaks and help you regain control of your bowels.
In addition to that, you may also get relief from other symptoms of bowel malfunction like bloating and stomach upset.
Recovery Time After Axonics Surgery
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Light activities: within 3 days
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Full return to normal activities: ~3 weeks
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Implant location: Lower back, just above the buttocks
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Procedure duration: 20–30 minutes, minimally invasive, outpatient
Where is Axonics implanted?
The Axonics device is implanted in the lower back, just above the buttocks.
The procedure is minimally invasive and can be performed safely at the center that allows outpatient surgery.
It takes about 20 to 30 minutes to complete.
10 Potential Axonics Side Effects
Here are 10 Axonics side effects you should consider before you decide to get the procedure done.
The surgical site may get infected
Like most surgical procedures, the Axonics procedure carries a risk of surgical site infection.Â
Fortunately, you can easily treat this by seeking an antibiotics injection as soon as you notice symptoms of infection on the surgical site.
You may experience discomfort in the charging area
The Axonics device implanted for this particular procedure involves you recharging it every 4 to 6 weeks for about an hour.
While some people have no issue with the charging process, others find it extremely uncomfortable due to the heating.
If you experience abnormal heating in the charging area, then there’s a good chance you are not charging it correctly.
To solve this problem, you can visit your doctor to retrain you on how to charge it properly.
You can get tingling sensations
Before you get this procedure done, you should know that you may experience some tingling sensations in your lower back.
Thankfully, these sensations are transient in most cases, which means they will last a very short time before you stop feeling them.
You may experience hematoma
A hematoma is a localized collection of blood outside your blood vessels.
It can happen due to a disease or trauma to the blood vessels.
One of the Axonics side effects is that you can experience a bit of hematoma after getting the surgery.
In most cases, your body will quickly reabsorb the blood, so you won’t have anything to worry about.
This procedure can cause swelling on the surgical site
You should expect some swelling on the surgery site, which will likely go down within a few hours.
If it doesn’t go away, then that could be a sign that the device was not properly implanted, and you should report that to your doctor.
You may feel numb afterward
It’s not uncommon for patients who have undergone this procedure to feel a bit numb every now and then.
This is likely to occur on the generator site, and in some cases, it is accompanied by pain.
If you find the numbness occurring a bit too frequently, then you should ask your doctor to check if the implant is still in place.
The device might migrate from the original position
In some cases, the lead device implanted to help with neurostimulation can move from the original point and go further up or lower the spinal cord.
When this happens, it can cause discomfort in addition to ceasing to serve its purpose.
Fortunately, this can be corrected by returning the implant to the original position in your lower back.
It may cause a spinal fluid leak
Like every other minimally invasive surgery on the spine, the Axonics procedure carries a risk of causing your spinal fluid to leak.
This is not very common, and in most cases, it happens when the surgeon does not use the right procedure to cut into the layers of the skin.
You may experience unintended nerve stimulation
The lead implant in your lower back, as part of the Axonics therapy, is supposed to improve communication between your brain and sacral nerve.
However, there’s a risk of affecting more nerves than the sacral nerve.
When this happens, you may experience a disturbance in your general nerve function, which could worsen your condition if not corrected immediately.
It can cause radiculitis
One of the little-known Axonics side effects is that it can cause radiculitis.
Radiculitis is the general term that describes symptoms caused by excess pressure, compression, or inflammation of a nerve root.
This procedure puts you at risk of experiencing pain along your spine, especially if the device is not properly placed.
Who Should Avoid Axonics Therapy
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Pregnant patients
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Individuals under 16 years old
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People with severe neurological conditions (e.g., multiple sclerosis, diabetes-related neuropathy)
Effectiveness and safety are not established for these groups.
Conclusion
Since FDA approval in 2019, Axonics therapy has helped countless patients regain control over bladder and bowel functions. While the procedure offers substantial benefits, awareness of Axonics side effects like infection, swelling, nerve irritation, device migration, and radiculitis is critical.
Always consult your doctor before the procedure and report any post-surgery issues promptly. Safe and informed use ensures maximum benefits from this innovative nerve stimulation therapy.
For more medical device insights, visit the FlabFix homepage, and check out the Brian Syuki Program for holistic health improvement.
