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Should I have the Spinal Cord Stimulator? Looking for reviews on this
Spine Health | Last Active: Jul 18 12:25pm | Replies (108)Comment receiving replies
Here's my perception of SCSs. I have had chronic back and leg pain for 20 years. I've had 5 spine surgeries. Most of the common procedures, like injections and ablations. Drs. have recommended I try a SCS because nothing else has worked very well for me. Strong pain killers work for me, but that's not your question.
So, I've read a lot about SCSs and talked with a few people who have them. People who have them have told me, they get varying levels of relief, but they all still take pain medicine. I have read accounts of people who get tremendous, almost total relief, and have stopped taking pain meds. But I didn't meet any of those people.
The SCS manufacturers tell you they consider more than 50% pain relief to be success. It is my impression that a lot of people (maybe 70%) get 50% or more relief. I expect a much smaller percentage (maybe 30%) get more than 90% relief and stop taking pain medicine.
Of the 30% who don't get 50% relief, i feel there are a number of reasons things don't go well for them. Some are technical product defects like the battery packs are defective, or the electrode leads are defective. Some are procedural, like the surgeon doesn't find optimal locations for the leads, or the leads move after the surgery, or they break.
Then there are problems like my sister had during her SCS implant operation, where the surgeon made a mistake that created some nerve damage that will prevent her from ever walking again.
If you choose to proceed, I hope you are one of the 30% who get 80%-100% relief and can totally ditch you pain pills. For now, I'm not getting SCS.
Replies to "Here's my perception of SCSs. I have had chronic back and leg pain for 20 years...."
It is the trial that requires 50% pain relief or you won't qualify for permanent placement. I got 50% and sometimes more pain relief during my trail. I think that is where you got the 50% relief from, the required trial minimum. I have been told the permanent works even better. I was also told I should be able to quit pain pills and the 1800 mg of Gabapentin I take. I was told by 3 neurosurgeons they couldn't help me but at least the third one recommended I try the SCS. I ran out of options and the pain is ruining my life. I am grateful for modern medicine and the chance to get part of it back. I too am a retired RN and have done my research. Also my three friends are very happy with theirs.
If you read drug inserts, you may never take another prescription medication. If you read a surgery consent, you may never have another surgery. I could go on but you get the point. People think Boston Scientific is a bad SCS because of a law suit, if they read further they'd learn it was over a design patent and another over a vena cava filter, not their SCS.
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You're not getting the SCS because you have pain medication. I do not have pain medication and it is not available or prescribed in my area, or my state, so the SCS is my only option to get some sort of pain relief from this pain that I have suffered for well over 10-years. I initially refused to have the SCS - three times, when offered by Pain Management Physicians. I'm an RN, I've done all the research, the reading, watched the video and read the booklet. And I made the decision that No, I was not getting this SCS. But ...after spending months having PT, acupuncture, Chiropractics, having Epidural Steroid Injections, an Interspinous spacer, and a MILD procedure only to find that nothing worked for me in reducing my pain......I have no other option available to me to at least do the trial of the SCS. It does actually scare the heck out of me, because I've read all the horror stories out there.......but maybe I need to look for some success stories too.