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Should I have the Spinal Cord Stimulator? Looking for reviews on this

Posted by denman55 @denman55, Jun 5, 2023

I have had chronic lower back pain due to lumbar spinal stenosis for over 10-years. I have had multiple therapies and procedures done - including RFA, Epidural steroid injections, a MILD procedure, acupuncture, OT/PT and Chiropractics, as well as an Interspinous spacer and nothing has helped my pain. After all of that, the physician I saw in March's only recommendation was for me to have the Spinal cord stimulator, but I am actually afraid of this and have read that there have been numerous injuries as a result of this implant, and after reviewing the booklet and watching the video I initially felt that it was just to restrictive in terms of how you could move your body. If you have had this procedure please let me know your results. Many thanks.

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ginnyjm | @ginnyjm | 1 day ago
In reply to @jlssurplus "@chrismhampton Sorry to hear about the pain. My experience with a Stimulator is that my wife..." + (show)
Profile picture for jlssurplus @jlssurplus

@chrismhampton
Sorry to hear about the pain.

My experience with a Stimulator is that my wife had one put in after having 5 fusions and was still a lot of pain even with opiods.

It seemed to work for a while and then got less and less effective with time. This seems to be common.

She had it removed during the next fusion. Definately not a guaranteed help but is pushed really hard by the pain docs as there is a ton of money in these thing.

My thoughts would be to try to figure out what is causing your pain specifically and try to treat that if possible, as a stimulator is just covers pain up.

Good Luck

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@jlssurplus I totally agree! I kept my SCS a little over a year & had it removed. I was tired of having the programs readjusted & charging the battery every week when it never helped!

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bajjerfan | @bajjerfan | 1 day ago

Stimulators mitigate pain; they don't cure it. I suppose it's 50:50 as to whether it will provide long term relief or not. It doesn't do anything for the cause of the pain.

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heisenberg34 | @heisenberg34 | 1 day ago
In reply to @chrismhampton "I have a question I had Spinal Fusion done on Oct 2, 2025 and my back..." + (show)
Profile picture for chrismhampton @chrismhampton

I have a question I had Spinal Fusion done on Oct 2, 2025 and my back is still killing me and I'm also very hesitant about getting the spinal cord stimulator spinal cord stimulator or a pian pump which I don't really wanna put anything else into my back unless I know it will work. I live in Louisiana and my doctors wont prescribe any narcotics unless its after surgery and only for 6 weeks. I've been on gabapentin, diazepam, and tramadol nothing has worked. I can barley walk for long or sit I have to go to the ER every 2 weeks to to get my pain from a 10 to a 6. At the ER the only they give me is Dilaudid which does help reduce my pain. Any suggestion for me?

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@chrismhampton I'm sorry to say that there are no guarantee when it comes to medical treatments, especially surgeries. You can do trials for a SCS and a pain pump. Unfortunately, there are no guarantees that a successful trial will ensure success for the permanent implant. You have to ask yourself, "At what point in my pain journey does it warrant something like one of these devices?".

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lisa619 | @lisa619 | 6 hours ago

I have one and it worked for a while but the battery is giving me problems and is hurting and getting it removed

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