"Spinal Cord Stimulation provides alternative pain control. With pain medication regulation becoming more stringent every year at both the state and federal level some patients are suffering while some doctors are left with little in the way of alternative treatments for pain control.
Spinal cord stimulation (SCS) is a well established and very effective treatment for many types of pain, primarily spine, arm/leg pain from pathology such as spinal stenosis, neuropathy, nerve damage, degenerative disc disease, and much more. This device works by inhibiting the transmission of pain signals as they travel up the spinal cord to the brain where they are received and the perception of pain is registered. By preventing these pain signals from reaching a persons brain the perception of pain is significantly reduced and in some cases eliminated.
The spinal cord stimulator works by emitting electrical impulses at perceptible or sub-perceptible levels which over ride the pain signal as it travels in the dorsal column of the spinal cord. When someone bumps their knee it is almost a programmed response to rub that area..ever wonder why? Our bodies programmed response to rub a painful area is based on the same medical phenomenon described that the spinal cord stimulator uses. By rubbing a bumped knee the signals of pressure and touch can start to override or overpower the transmission of the pain signals. The SCS uses electrical impulses at very precise frequencies, wave lengths, and pulse widths to over ride the pain signal as it travels up the spinal cord. By stimulating the spinal cord as opposed to example the knee, pain from multiple different areas can be masked or overridden simultaneously.
The procedure involves a two step process, the first of which is a trial or "test drive". The device is inserted thru a needle or small port while the patient is sedated. The needle is then removed the the device is dressed with a surgical dressing. The patient then goes home with the device for 3-7 days. Upon returning to the office the stimulator is simply pulled out painlessly and a band-aid is applied. No scar tissue or wound healing is necessary. The patient and doctor then decide if the relief was great enough to warrant permanent implantation of the device all internally (similar to but smaller than a pacemaker)."
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