1. < Spine Health

Spinal pain management

Posted by bootmaker @bootmaker, May 29 8:55pm

Hello everyone, I have my 1st visit to the spinal pain management department on the 7th of June. I was referred for a spinal cord stimulator. The reason I am going to the Mayo Clinic, is I can not get anywhere with the Dr's here in New Mexico. I have had a double discectomy, a laminectomy, and three spinal fusions. No one knows why about two months after my last fusion, why I am in some much pain. I have trouble walking any distance now. When I was walking a mile and a half twice a day. Any feed back on spinal cord stimulators or even a different process to help with pain, would be greatly appreciated.

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dlee818 | @dlee818 | Sep 29 9:39am
In reply to @heisenberg34 "You are wise to be hesitant about a spinal fusion. Too many docs jump on the..." + (show)
@heisenberg34

You are wise to be hesitant about a spinal fusion. Too many docs jump on the spinal fusion band wagon. I have seen too many posts here(along with my own personal experience) where people complain of the spinal fusion not helping, and often causing more problems. Did you have an MRI? On what basis are they telling you to have a fusion? I would recommend that you get a second, even third opinion before allowning someone to cut into your back again. There should be overwhelming evidence for the fusion, confirmed by a second opinion. I wish you well.

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Everyone who is contemplating surgery should keep this in mind. There are no tests available to doctors that can determine the severity of your pain, specifically on an individual basis. It has come to my understanding that any surgeon who performs surgery considers it successful if the procedure goes as planned. This surgery cannot be determined by the patient's level of pain. Until I can be certain that the procedure will be successful and I won't be in pain, I won't have spinal surgery. I am waiting for this guarantee to arrive!

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2 replies
annie1 | @annie1 | Sep 29 10:13am

Yes. I am having twitching and my left toes curl up and my calf cramps up for many hours. The Surgeon said it was Foraminal stenosis and the only way to solve it is to "clean it up" and then put in hardware to stabilize my spine. I am going for an MRI this week. In the meantime it is difficult to sleep though with those symptoms. I have been taking Oxycodone which I am not happy about, but very low dose only at night. I do think I am addicted though.

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heisenberg34 | @heisenberg34 | Sep 29 11:47am
In reply to @dlee818 "Everyone who is contemplating surgery should keep this in mind. There are no tests available to..." + (show)
@dlee818

Everyone who is contemplating surgery should keep this in mind. There are no tests available to doctors that can determine the severity of your pain, specifically on an individual basis. It has come to my understanding that any surgeon who performs surgery considers it successful if the procedure goes as planned. This surgery cannot be determined by the patient's level of pain. Until I can be certain that the procedure will be successful and I won't be in pain, I won't have spinal surgery. I am waiting for this guarantee to arrive!

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Agree 100%. Just don't hold your breath waiting for that guarantee. If only these docs pushing for these surgeries could experience our level 7-9 pain for just one day, perhaps they might be more empathetic.

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heisenberg34 | @heisenberg34 | Sep 29 11:52am
In reply to @dlee818 "Everyone who is contemplating surgery should keep this in mind. There are no tests available to..." + (show)
@dlee818

Everyone who is contemplating surgery should keep this in mind. There are no tests available to doctors that can determine the severity of your pain, specifically on an individual basis. It has come to my understanding that any surgeon who performs surgery considers it successful if the procedure goes as planned. This surgery cannot be determined by the patient's level of pain. Until I can be certain that the procedure will be successful and I won't be in pain, I won't have spinal surgery. I am waiting for this guarantee to arrive!

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That's why the term "failed back surgery syndrome" has become so common. It's essentially saying that "I tried surgery to help reduce my patient's pain, but it didn't work".
It is sort of a trial and error process...but we, the patients, are the error. Why would anyone want something that has such a high rate of failure?

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heisenberg34 | @heisenberg34 | Sep 29 12:06pm

I don't know if I replied to you before, but here goes. I had a Medtronic SCS implanted back in 2018. The trial gave me about 70-80% relief. The permanent implant gave me about 50% pain relief. That was enough to get me out on my bke again (cycling), hiking, working aroud the house, and even some gentle skiing. It suddenly stopped working in 2021. The thought was the paddle may have moved and/or the lead may shorted out.
If I had known about spinal cord stimulation prior to my spinal fusion(failed), I would not have had it done. I had to really dig deep to find out about this procedure. It is far less invasive than fusion and, with the trial, it is like a "try before you buy". Now, do your due diligence about which type of SCS you choose. There are a number of them out there. Do a search for the top rated ones. Don't let your doctor push you into one kind of stimulator. He/she may receive compensation from that company. Not that that is necessarily a bad thing. Most SCS will work. But, which has the greatest coverage of your body. There are quite a few YouTube videos out there on SCS. I wish you well. I think the stimulator is a good choice.

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jp21 | @jp21 | Sep 30 8:08am
In reply to @annie1 "I agree, it's just a money maker for them. I did the trial for the Nevro..." + (show)
@annie1

I agree, it's just a money maker for them. I did the trial for the Nevro and it didn't do much of anything, maybe a .5 percent help and the pain Dr I saw for it called me the day after I had the trial taken out and told me I had to decide asap if I wanted the permanent one! Now I have a different problem, that is I had a laminotomy almost seven months ago which for the first three months after was great, but now I am having twitching and spasms in my legs and developing foot drop. The surgeon says I may need a fusion which I am very nervous about because I have Osteoporosis. I don't know who to trust anymore.

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After my laminectomy,I developed foot drop and needed a brace for 2 years.i did the fusion and foot drop beca.e better over the next few months and I have not used the brace ever again.as for the stimulator...same! I did the trial with about 10% improvement and decided against it.dr kept pushing to ha e a permanent one and I refused.

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riovirgingirl | @riovirgingirl | Sep 30 8:39am
In reply to @besmith57 "I had a double fusion in 2022. My back pain is still there, but of course..." + (show)
@besmith57

I had a double fusion in 2022. My back pain is still there, but of course not as bad as when I first broke my back. I have an appointment with my pain specialist on Thursday. I want to consider the intracept surgery. I will probably always have some back pain, but I would like to be able to stand or walk for more than five minutes without pain. If an MRI doesn't show scar tissue what would?

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A CT scan will show scar tissue. Best of luck to you.

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1 reply
besmith57 | @besmith57 | Sep 30 8:47am
In reply to @riovirgingirl "A CT scan will show scar tissue. Best of luck to you." + (show)
@riovirgingirl

A CT scan will show scar tissue. Best of luck to you.

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I am having an MRI on Wednesday. I pray they can find a way to treat this pain. I know I have degenerative discs. I just want to be able to stand and walk again without pain. Thank you for your response!

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