It has also been used when there is continued pain into the legs following back surgery. It seems to work best for neuropathic pain, the type of pain caused by injury or disease to nerves. Spinal cord stimulation has been approved by the Food and Drug Administration (the FDA) for the treatment of chronic intractable pain in the trunk and limbs. This should allow you to be more active, have less pain and need less pain medications. But you should expect a 50 percent or greater decrease in your pain following successful spinal cord stimulation. The spinal cord stimulator will not cure your pain. Spinal cord stimulation is usually considered when the pain is chronic and severe - and surgery, injections, physical therapy, medications, and other treatments have failed to give enough relief of pain. The electrical stimulation serves as a distraction and allows your brain to focus on the tingling, often soothing sensation it makes. The stimulator device delivers an electrical current to the electrodes that interrupts the conduction of the pain signal, replacing the pain with a tingling, or buzzing sensation. The device is connected to special electrodes that are positioned over the back of your spinal cord by wires placed inside the spinal canal. The small stimulator device is similar to a pacemaker and is implanted underneath the skin, usually in the lower abdomen or upper buttock. Spinal cord stimulation can be thought of as blocking the pain signal as it travels up the spinal cord to the brain. Spinal cord stimulation is one technique that pain physicians find helps to reduce the symptoms of neuropathic pain. Medications have not been very effective in relieving this type of pain. When the spinal nerve roots have been damaged due to constant pressure or irritation, this is also considered neuropathic pain. Neuropathic pain can have many sources, for example: amputation leading to phantom limb pain, diabetes causing peripheral neuropathy, shingles leading to post herpetic neuropathy and injuries leading chronic regional pain syndrome (CRPS). In the case of the lower or lumbar spine, these nerves travel into the lower extremities.ĭamage to nerves can lead to a specific type of pain called neuropathic pain. Pain from an irritated or pinched nerve root follows a pattern that matches where the nerve travels through the body. This may cause symptoms of nerve dysfunction such as burning, pins and needles, and hypersensitivity. If there is not enough room for the nerve roots to easily travel through these neuroforamen, this can lead to irritation and pressure on the nerves. The openings in the spinal canal where the nerve roots exit are called neuroforamen. The nerve roots exit the spinal canal between the vertebrae. The intervertebral discs cushion the spine and make it flexible. In between the vertebrae are intervertebral discs. Inside the dura, the spinal cord is bathed by cerebral spinal fluid that cushions and protects the fragile nerve tissue. Inside the spinal canal, the spinal cord is covered by a watertight sac called the dura. The spinal cord runs through the spinal canal from the brain to the lower spine. The spinal cord is a tube of nerve cells that create the motor and sensory pathways that link the brain to the body. When the vertebra are stacked one on top of the other, these rings of bone create a hollow tube called the spinal canal. Each vertebrae has a ring of bone that encases and protects the spinal cord. The spine is made up of 24 bones called vertebrae that stack on top of one another.
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