Chronic pain occurs when nerves send pain signals to your brain too often or when they aren’t needed. A treatment called spinal cord stimulation, or SCS, can stop those messages from getting through, providing pain relief.
Spinal cord stimulation uses an electric current to block pain signals. The current travels from a generator through wires called leads to your spinal cord. Stopping the pain signals can improve chronic low back pain and nerve pain in your arms or legs. You can test the treatment for a trial period using a generator attached to the outside of your body. If it helps you, a surgeon can implant the device permanently.
Summit Orthopedics spine specialists in the Minneapolis/St. Paul area offer spinal cord stimulation when other treatments aren’t successful. If you’re tired of living with long-term pain, let our experts help you decide whether spinal cord stimulation could provide the relief you’re looking for.
Benefits of Spinal Cord Stimulation
Chronic pain in your back, arms or legs can affect nearly every part of your life. You may find it hard to exercise, play with your grandchildren or take care of routine chores at home. Long-term pain can also be tough to solve. Spinal cord stimulation offers another option for relief when self-care, medications, physical therapy and other treatments haven’t worked.
Spinal cord stimulation has several benefits, including:
- A minimally invasive procedure. Spinal cord stimulation doesn’t involve major surgery, even if you have the spine stimulator permanently implanted.
- A trial period. You can test the spinal cord stimulator for a few days without having it implanted. If it doesn’t provide enough pain relief, the surgeon can easily reverse the treatment.
- Another chance to feel better. You may be frustrated if other forms of treatment haven’t helped your symptoms. Spinal cord stimulation offers hope of improvement. Around half of the patients who have this treatment report that their pain improves by 50%.
- Less need for pain medications. If the spinal stimulator reduces your symptoms, you may be able to cut back on pain medicines.
- The ability to treat several types of pain. The electronic spinal stimulator can help improve back pain or pain in your arms or legs due to nerve damage.
Is Spinal Cord Stimulation Right for You?
Your Summit Orthopedics spine specialist may recommend spinal cord stimulation if you have chronic pain and other treatments haven’t helped. Many conditions can cause long-term pain in the back, legs or arms, including an inflamed spine, herniated discs and spinal stenosis.
A spinal cord stimulator implant may be right for you if you have:
- Chronic low back pain
- Chronic pain in your arms or legs
- Complex regional pain syndrome (a type of chronic pain that usually affects the arms or legs)
- Frequent numbness or a burning feeling in your arms or legs
What to Expect
Treatment with spinal cord stimulation starts with the trial procedure. During this same-day procedure, the surgeon will place the leads that deliver the electric current. The leads will connect to a generator outside your body.
You will use the nerve stimulator for about a week to see if it helps your pain. If so, you’ll have a surgical procedure a few weeks later to place the spinal stimulator implant in your body.
Before the Procedure
You will prepare for the trial and spinal stimulator implant procedures the same way. Follow these tips:
- Arrange for a friend or family member to drive you to and from the procedure.
- Follow your surgeon’s instructions for when to stop eating and drinking before the procedure.
- Inform your care team about the medicines you take. Your surgeon may tell you to stop taking certain ones, such as blood thinners, before the procedure.
- Let your care team know if you have a pacemaker (a device to control your heart rhythm). The spinal stimulator implant could affect the pacemaker.
- Tell your surgical team if you feel sick before your procedure so they can reschedule if needed.
During the Procedure
The trial procedure takes one to two hours. The operating team will numb the injection site and give you medicine to help you relax.
Your surgeon will use X-ray images to guide a needle into part of the spinal canal called the epidural space. They will place the leads in that space and connect them to the generator. The generator is attached to your skin. The surgeon will program the generator to deliver an electric current during the trial period.
If the treatment works, you’ll have the implant procedure a week or two later. You will receive general anesthesia to put you to sleep during the procedure. The surgeon will place permanent leads in your spine. Then, they will make a small cut in your belly or buttocks and place the spinal stimulator implant, which connects to the leads. This procedure can take 30 to 45 minutes.
After the procedure
After the trial procedure, the surgeon will program the device and you’ll go home the same day to start the one-week trial.
After receiving the permanent implant, you’ll go to a recovery room until the anesthesia wears off. You will go home the same day or the next day.
Risks of Spinal Cord Stimulation
Spinal cord stimulation is quite safe. Rarely, though, this treatment can cause side effects, including:
- Bleeding
- Infection
- Leads breaking or shifting out of position
- Leaking of cerebrospinal fluid (a fluid that protects the brain and spinal cord)
- Nerve damage
- Pain at the injection site
- Spinal stimulator implant stops working
Recovery From Spinal Cord Stimulation
After the implant procedure, avoid bending, twisting, heavy lifting and intense physical activity for several weeks, according to your surgeon’s instructions. You can walk and perform light physical activity. Over the long term, you may have to adapt how you perform certain movements, such as bending, to avoid damaging the leads. Your surgeon can tell you about any lifestyle changes you may need to make.
The success rate of spinal cord stimulation depends on several factors, including the condition being treated. Many people see their symptoms improve, although the treatment doesn’t cure the underlying cause. You or your surgeon can adjust the level of electric current from the implanted device to find what works best for you.
Spinal Cord Stimulation at Summit Orthopedics
At Summit Orthopedics, our fellowship-trained spine specialists have one goal: to find the treatment that will give you the most relief from pain. Spinal cord stimulation is one of many tools in our toolbox. Our patient-centered approach to care earned Summit Orthopedics recognition from the National Committee for Quality Assurance. We’ve also been recognized by The Joint Commission and Blue Cross Blue Shield of Minnesota for high-quality spine care.
Summit Orthopedics surgeons are available at nearly 30 convenient locations across the Minneapolis/St. Paul metro area, serving Minnesota and western Wisconsin. Our state-of-the-art, comprehensive orthopedic centers offer same-day appointments from a team of experts who offer the full scope of orthopedic care, including spinal cord stimulation.
Find your Summit Orthopedics spine care expert, request an appointment or call us at (651) 968-5201 to schedule a consultation.
