Spinal Cord Stimulation

If you have been living with chronic pain, spinal cord stimulation (SCS) may provide new hope. Spinal cord stimulation has been identified to be an effective treatment option for many chronic pain sufferers.

Spinal cord stimulation is a medical therapy for people who suffer from certain types of chronic pain. SCS uses a small implanted device to generate tiny electrical pulses that replace the feeling of pain with a tingling or massaging sensation.

Spinal cord stimulation is a widely accepted medical treatment. It is an FDA-approved therapy for treatment of chronic pain of the trunk and limbs (back, legs and arms). Many major health insurance plans, Medicare and worker’s compensation programs provide benefits and coverage for SCS therapy.

Each year as many as 50,000 neurostimulators are implanted worldwide.2 A study of chronic pain sufferers who used SJM neurostimulators3 revealed the following:

• 84% reported that their quality of life was improved or greatly improved
• 77% had good or excellent pain relief
• 82% decreased their use of pain medications

SCS is not a cure for pain. The objective with this therapy is to reduce your pain to a manageable level.

Why Choose SCS?

Spinal cord stimulation has three significant advantages:

It can be very effective in relieving certain types of pain in the back, legs and arms.

You can try SCS before you have a permanent system placed in your body, so you'll know if the therapy will work for you.

The system can be turned off permanently or removed if you don't get the level of relief you desire.

Will SCS Help Me?

Spinal cord stimulation is not for everyone—for several reasons

• Your doctor may want to try less advanced treatment options first, such as pain medications, physical therapy, nerve blocks or other therapies.
• You may have a type of pain that does not respond well to SCS.

For spinal cord stimulation (SCS) to control your pain, you must have a small system placed in your body. An SCS system looks and works a lot like a pacemaker. In fact, SCS systems are sometimes called “pacemakers for pain.” An SCS system generates mild electrical pulses and sends them to your spinal cord. These electrical pulses replace the feeling of pain with a pleasant sensation that later is your brain learns to ignore.

For more information abut spinal cord stimulation, please call us or click on the button to make a appointment.

REQUEST AN APPOINTMENT (we will contact you within 24 hr. or on Mondays for appointments made on weekends)

Call us to schedule an appointment (you can either call us or do it on line, no referral is necessary). We accept most insurance plans including Blue Cross, Blue Shield, Aetna, Humana, United, Medicare, Medicaid and many others. We can get you in with a back pain doctor or pain management physician today! If you are a referring physician, health care provider or doctor representative please call us to get a referral form.

References
1 Barolat, G et al. Epidural spinal cord stimulation with multiple electrode paddle lead is effective in treating intractable low back pain. Neuromodulation. 2001 Apr;4(2):59-66.

2 Simpson BA. Electrical Stimulation and the Relief of Pain. Boston, Mass: Elsevier; 2003. Pain Research and Clinical Management, Vol. 15.

3 Advanced Neuromodulation Systems. Prospective, Multi-Centered, Single Arm Study to Evaluate the Safety and Effectiveness of GenesisTM Implantable Pulse Generator in Combination with ANS Percutaneous Leads for the Management of Chronic Pain of the Trunk and/or Limbs. Plano, Tex; 2006.