Suffering from chronic pain in your neck, back, or legs due to an injury or surgery is a common issue. However, sometimes, this pain is persistent and never seems to go away.
Conventional treatment methods may help in some cases, but what if they do not? This is when spinal cord stimulation is an alternative treatment offering relief by keeping pain under control. If you are contemplating the idea of spinal cord stimulator treatment and wondering what it feels like, this post is for you.
Spinal Cord Stimulation
Spinal cord stimulation is a therapy that helps mask your pain signals before they can reach your brain. There is a small device known as a spinal cord stimulator that looks like a pacemaker delivering electrical to your spinal cord. This electrical stimulation helps you better cope and manage any chronic pains. The best part is that you need not rely on opioid medication anymore.
If you have not found relief through other forms of treatments, you may want to look into spinal cord stimulation.
Spinal Cord Stimulator
A spinal cord stimulator is basically a device implanted in your spinal cord. This device helps relieve most types of chronic pains in your neck, back, and extremities. A spinal cord stimulator consists of wires or electrodes with a connection to a battery or generator in your body.
If you decide to go for the spinal cord stimulation treatment, a doctor surgically places stimulation electrodes on your back’s epidural space. This is the area between your spinal cord and vertebrae. Once all electrodes are in place, they surgically place a generator under your skin. The generator usually goes near your abdomen or glutes, as these areas have extra tissues to pad your generator.
Once the procedure is complete, you will be given a remote to control your spinal cord stimulator. This remote is always on the outside of your body. Whenever you experience pain, simply turn on your spinal cord stimulator.
The level of stimulation you apply disrupts pain signals going through your spinal cord towards the brain. This allows you to feel instant relief from the chronic pain that otherwise caused a lot of discomforts.
How Does Spinal Cord Stimulator Feel?
Most people are very anxious about how the electrical stimulation is going to feel for the first time. Many mistakenly think of it as an electric shock to your spinal cord when it is nothing of that sort. The stimulation through the spinal cord stimulator is to provide instant relief from chronic pain, not to make you go through the agony of an electric shock.
You’re probably wondering what the stimulation will feel like for the first time? The answer is that the sensation may vary from person to person. That said, most describe it as a slight tingling sensation running through your spine. This is also known as paresthesia.
The tingling sensation you feel in your leg and/or back will be the result of slight and short electrical impulses emitting from the generator installed in your body. The electrodes surgically placed in your epidural space transfer these impulses to the nerves, disrupting pain signals transmitted to you towards your brain.
However, do not be alarmed by the word “electrical impulse.” While it sounds painful, you won’t feel a thing except for a slight tingle in your spine. The impulse sent through the electrodes is so light that the most you will feel are the pins and needles kind of sensation in your legs and back.
You can even decrease or increase the intensity of the electrical pulses depending on the intensity of pain you experience. You can do so easily by using the remote with different levels of paresthesia intensity.
Why Spinal Cord Stimulator?
The best part about spinal cord stimulators is that you can personalize them as per your pain intensity and condition. You can even remove it if you fully recover from the chronic pain. Other benefits of spinal cord stimulation include better quality of life as you’re not in constant agony due to intense pain.
Furthermore, relief from the pain allows you to sleep better, and you need not rely on painkillers that may cause addiction to certain drugs.
When is Spinal Cord Stimulator a Good Option?
Spinal cord stimulator installation is a slightly invasive process. However, a trained surgical doctor can easily install it with a small surgery. If you have tried various forms of medication and physical therapy and the pain continues to persist, we recommend you consider spinal cord stimulation treatment for instant and long-term relief.
Are you wondering what types of conditions this form of treatment may be able to help with? Here are some of the conditions a spinal cord stimulator may be able to offer relief against.
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Back pain or leg pain that you have been unable to get rid of using other treatments and therapies.
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Neuropathy
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Post-surgical pain
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Spinal cord injuries
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Complex regional pain syndrome
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Peripheral vascular disease
So, if you are suffering from any of the above-mentioned aches and pains and have not been able to find any treatment to subdue the pain, a spinal cord stimulator is for you.
However, before you go ahead with the procedure, speak to your doctor about the assessment and if you are really going to benefit from a spinal cord stimulator. Your GP may order different imaging such as MRI or CT scans to evaluate the severity of your condition.
You will only be able to get a spinal cord stimulator if the doctor deems it helpful to improve your quality of life.
Get a Spinal Cord Stimulator in LA
If you are a resident in Los Angeles or its vicinity and suffering from chronic pain that does not go away, we at DrRogerscan help. Our experienced orthopedic spine surgeon promises the best outcomes with world-class care.
Contact us today to speak to one of our team and Request an appointment to visit our clinic.
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