If you’re battling chronic back pain and can’t get lasting relief from any other pain intervention, including back surgery, you may want to consider spinal cord stimulation (SCS).
This implanted device sends low-level electrical pulses to your spinal cord, blocking or altering the delivery of pain signals to the brain. SCS isn’t a cure for pain, but can help you manage it and decrease your reliance on pain medications. However, this approach may not be right for everyone.
At Expert Pain in Houston, Texas, our pain management specialist, Dr. Ioannis Skaribas, has extensive experience and is a key opinion leader for spinal cord stimulation in the United States and around the world. A trial run is standard protocol for SCS, helping you and your care team determine if it can be a solution for your back pain.
Here, we explain what happens during and after a spinal cord stimulation trial.
A spinal cord stimulator is a medical device consisting of a small battery-powered generator, electrodes with thin wire leads, and a remote control. We place the generator under the skin and the electrodes in the near nerves in the spine that are causing your pain.
The electrical pulses change the sensations you feel. This is a pain management approach we call neuromodulation.
You control the electrical current with the handheld remote. Depending on the SCS device placed, you may feel a slight tingling sensation (paresthesia) or nothing at all.
At Expert Pain, we use BurstDR™ and HF10™ SCS devices. Before implanting the device, we do a spinal cord stimulation trial to determine if this nondrug treatment can help your pain and which device might work best.
For the SCS trial, we place temporary electrodes near the source of pain in the spine. We attach the leads to the external generator, turn it on, and reposition the electrodes to make sure they’re placed to cover the right area for maximum relief.
During this trial period, we secure the leads to your skin with surgical tape or sutures. We either tape the external generator to your back or place it in a belt-like pouch you wear around your waist.
We teach you how to use the remote to control the generator and provide a list of physical activities you need to perform during the trial. You must keep an accurate log of your pain level when engaging in each assigned activity.
After your SCS trial, Dr. Skaribas carefully reviews your log and discusses the results with you. If you experience at least a 50% reduction in pain during the trial, we may suggest permanent placement of the SCS.
Dr. Skaribas uses minimally invasive techniques to place the device and leads, and most people are back to their usual routine with slight modifications by the next day. Once you’re fully healed, you take control of your SCS. You can turn the stimulator off when you don’t need it and adjust stimulation strength to get the best relief.
If you continue to have back pain after trying other interventions, even surgery, you may want to consider spinal cord stimulation. A trial run lets you give the pain management tool a try before you commit. Studies show that SCS is more effective at managing pain than conventional medical interventions.
Call us today or request an appointment online to schedule a consultation with Dr. Skaribas to learn more about spinal cord stimulation and how it might help you.
