![]() ![]() Cervical and lumbar radiculitis - a painful condition resulting from the compression of the spinal nerves.Refractory angina - which causes chest pain, shortness of breath, and fatigue.Peripheral neuropathy - a constant burning pain of the legs caused by the dying off of the distant nerves.Complex regional pain syndrome - a chronic progressive disease characterized by severe pain and swelling.Chronic neck pain with or without arm pain.Chronic back pain with or without leg pain.Arachnoiditis - painful inflammation and scarring of the meninges (protective layers) of the spinal nerves.While this is not a comprehensive list, some of the conditions which the therapy may help includes: Spinal cord stimulation is recommended for an increasing number of painful health problems. Spinal cord stimulation is also an option for patients who are not surgical candidates because of a medical condition or because there isn’t a surgery that will help with their pain. The term describes chronic pain after one or more back or neck surgeries fails to alleviate persistent low back pain, leg pain (sciatica or lumbar radiculopathy) or arm pain (cervical radiculopathy). This device is typically used in patients who are still in pain after trying physical therapy, medications, nerve blocks, and even surgery.Ī general condition known as failed back surgery syndrome is one of the most common reasons spinal cord stimulation is used. That number is expected to grow to help manage chronic disease states as the population ages and as spinal cord stimulation is expanded to treat other diseases. Spinal cord stimulation was approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in 1989 to relieve pain from nerve damage in the trunk, arms, or legs, and now accounts for about 90 percent of all neuromodulation treatments. For this reason, it is vital that patients carefully choose a board-certified pain specialist with expertise in neuromodulation before committing to any therapy.Įach year approximately 14,000 patients around the world receive spinal cord stimulator implants. Physicians who have specific training in neuromodulation techniques have reduced complications and adverse events associated with this procedure. One of the specialized interventional pain management doctors at Semmes Murphey Clinic can implant the transmitter device through minimally invasive surgery. Think of the pain as a loudspeaker and the spinal cord stimulator as the knob that turns down the volume. This means the patient doesn’t feel their pain as much or at all. The electrical signal will control or decrease the feelings of pain by, in a sense, blocking or diluting the signals from the pain nerves to the brain. ![]() These are then connected to a device also implanted underneath the skin that sends an electrical signal to the nerves in the spinal cord. Typically two thin, flexible wires are placed in the epidural space above the spinal cord. People whose back or neck pain has not been relieved by back surgery or other treatments may have another option to consider: spinal cord stimulation.
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