Around one in five American adults has some form of chronic pain that can disrupt every aspect of their lives. Living with chronic pain can affect much more than how you feel physically; persistent pain makes it harder to walk, sleep, work, exercise, and carry out everyday activities.
When other treatments haven’t provided enough relief, spinal cord stimulation (SCS) may help. At Advanced Pain Management, we use spinal cord stimulation to treat several forms of persistent pain, particularly pain involving the nervous system.
SCS uses a small implanted device that sends mild electrical impulses to nerves near your spinal cord. These impulses change how pain signals travel to your brain. Before permanent implantation, you can usually try the treatment with a temporary device. This trial helps us determine whether SCS provides meaningful relief.
Here are five conditions we treat with spinal cord stimulation.
Spine surgery aims to correct a structural problem, but some people continue to experience pain afterward. The problem is often referred to as failed back surgery syndrome (FBSS), or post-laminectomy syndrome.
FBSS doesn’t necessarily mean the surgery itself failed. Scar tissue, continuing nerve irritation, another spinal problem, or changes that develop after surgery can all contribute to ongoing symptoms.
You might experience:
When additional surgery isn’t appropriate and treatments like medication, physical therapy, or injections haven’t helped enough, SCS could help by disrupting the pain signals traveling to your brain.
Complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS) causes severe, long-lasting pain, usually in an arm, hand, leg, or foot. It often develops after an injury, fracture, or surgery, sometimes even when the original tissue damage has healed.
CRPS can cause symptoms beyond pain. You may notice:
CRPS involves abnormal communication within the nervous system. Spinal cord stimulation can alter that communication and may reduce pain when other treatments haven’t provided sufficient relief.
Sciatica develops when irritation or compression affects the large sciatic nerve. It typically causes pain that travels from your lower back or buttock into your leg. You may also experience tingling, numbness, burning, or weakness. A herniated disc, spinal stenosis, or other spinal changes can cause this type of nerve pain.
Many cases improve with conservative treatment. However, persistent radicular pain can prove difficult to manage, particularly when surgery hasn’t helped or isn’t a suitable choice. For selected patients, SCS can interrupt the nerve signals that contribute to ongoing leg pain.
Peripheral neuropathy develops when nerves outside your brain and spinal cord become damaged. Symptoms often affect the feet and legs first and can include burning, stabbing pain, tingling, numbness, and increased sensitivity.
Diabetes ranks among the most common causes. Painful diabetic peripheral neuropathy can become particularly difficult to treat when medication no longer controls symptoms adequately.
Certain spinal cord stimulation systems have specific FDA approval for painful diabetic neuropathy. By changing the way pain signals travel through the nervous system, SCS may provide significant relief for appropriately selected patients.
You don’t necessarily need to have undergone spine surgery to qualify for spinal cord stimulation. SCS can also treat certain types of persistent low back and leg pain in people who haven’t had surgery.
Conditions like degenerative disc disease, herniated discs, and other spinal disorders can produce chronic pain, particularly when they irritate nearby nerves. For some people, medication, physical therapy, injections, and other nonsurgical treatments don’t provide lasting relief.
If your pain continues and spine surgery isn’t necessary or appropriate, we may consider spinal cord stimulation as another treatment approach.
Spinal cord stimulation doesn’t suit every type of chronic pain, nor does it correct the underlying condition. Instead, it changes the pain signals your nervous system sends to your brain.
At Advanced Pain Management, we assess the cause and characteristics of your pain, your previous treatments, and your general health before recommending SCS. A temporary trial also gives you the chance to find out how much relief the treatment provides before you decide about permanent implantation.
If chronic back, leg, or nerve pain continues despite other treatments, contact Advanced Pain Management to schedule an evaluation. Call one of our offices in Tucson, Arizona, or the Phoenix area, or complete the online inquiry form to schedule an appointment to find out whether spinal cord stimulation could help you.
