When conservative treatments fail to relieve your chronic pain, it’s time to talk with James Mirazita, MD, and PK Suchdev, MD, at Pain Solutions about getting a spinal cord stimulator. A spinal cord stimulator relieves chronic pain caused by many conditions, as it stops spinal nerves from sending pain messages to your brain. To learn more about spinal cord stimulation, call one of the offices in Nashua, and Concord, New Hampshire, or schedule an appointment online.
Spinal cord stimulation uses mild electrical pulses to block nerve signals carrying pain messages to your brain. While spinal cord stimulation may not produce optimal results in each patient, when it’s successful, it can result in significant pain relief.
All the nerves carrying pain signals from your body to the brain go through the spinal cord. Because spinal cord stimulation targets spinal nerves, this treatment can alleviate pain from a wide range of conditions, including:
The Pain Solutions team may also recommend spinal cord stimulation for problems like ongoing pain following a joint replacement.
Spinal cord stimulators have three parts, a generator, lead wires, and a controller. The small generator produces the electrical impulses. Your Pain Solutions provider implants the generator under your skin.
The lead wires carry the pulse to the targeted spinal nerves. Using a tiny incision, your provider threads the lead wires through the epidural space along your spine, implanting the wires at the nerves transmitting your pain signals.
Your provider uses the controller to program the strength and frequency of the electrical pulses. You keep the controller so you can turn the generator on and off as needed for pain relief.
You’ll have a seven-day trial period to learn if spinal cord stimulation effectively relieves your pain. During your trial, your provider inserts the lead wires but you wear the generator outside your body.
At the end of the week, you decide if you want to keep the device and have the generator implanted. If you didn’t get enough pain relief, your provider easily removes the lead wires.
People who want to use spinal cord stimulation must meet specific qualifications. You should:
If you don’t qualify, or if your trial is unsuccessful, the team at Pain Solutions recommends other treatment options to alleviate your pain.
To learn more about spinal cord stimulation, call Pain Solutions or schedule an appointment online today.
