Chronic back, neck, or limb pain can make your life a misery, transforming even the simplest activity into a painful chore. While physical therapy and medication can help relieve some types of chronic pain, those approaches don’t work for everyone.
At Pacific Sports and Spine, our team is skilled in both conservative and minimally invasive treatments for chronic pain. Some of our patients benefit from a minimally invasive pain treatment called spinal cord stimulation.
There are three main types of nerves:
It’s the sensory nerves that can cause you to feel pleasure or pain.
Sensory nerves have special receptors that react to sensations, releasing chemicals that are interpreted by the brain. Spinal cord stimulation works by interfering with sensory nerve signaling, preventing those signals from reaching the brain.
We implant the stimulation device under your skin, usually near your buttocks. It’s connected to two very thin wires that are implanted near your spine in the area where pain signals are occurring.
The device emits tiny electrical impulses that confuse receptor activity, diminishing or even blocking painful sensations.
Spinal cord stimulation can be very effective in relieving pain, especially when other treatments, like oral pain relievers, physical therapy, and corticosteroids, don’t work. In general, spinal cord stimulation is often a good choice for patients with issues like:
Before recommending spinal cord stimulation (or any treatment, for that matter), we perform comprehensive evaluations of your spine and your pain symptoms to make sure the treatment is right for you.
Of course, before we implant any device, we want to be sure it works for you. That’s where the trial run treatment helps. We make a tiny incision over your spine, then insert the leads temporarily.
You keep track of your pain symptoms during the trial run to assess its effectiveness in treating your pain.
If the trial run is successful, we implant the ends of the leads in the space surrounding your spine (the epidural space) and connect them to the generator, which is usually implanted near your buttocks.
The surgery uses a special type of real-time X-rays to ensure precise placement of the leads.
At Pacific Sports and Spine, we specialize in finding long-term solutions for women and men with chronic pain issues from all sorts of causes. If you have chronic pain, we work with you to find the right treatment to help you feel better.
To learn more about spinal cord stimulation and other advanced pain treatment options, call our Eugene, Oregon, office or book an appointment online today.
