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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
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.
Replies to "It is the trial that requires 50% pain relief or you won't qualify for permanent placement...."
Yes, I think it's important to look at all brands and models of the available SCS on the market. Some are just better than others. Perhaps if I had access to pain medication I would not be pursuing the SCS option, but no physician - Pain management or Orthopedic - has ever offered me pain medication. The Opioid crisis in the country has taken pain medications off the table for so many that could benefit from them. I have actually read that the highest rating for an SCS is for the Boston Scientific model.
My Medtronic’s SCS worked well for about 3 years. Then it seemed to to just stop working. A SCS revealed that several of the electrodes on the paddle had burned out. I was told that I should still be getting relief… NOT. Replacing the paddle is something that is not easily done. I tried different meds, PT, chiropractic, etc. Nothing helped. My last gasp was the pain pump. Trial needed 2 injections at different times to get relief, which was significant. Implant done on 4/15. Not much relief until they started to up the dosage ever so slightly every two weeks. Each readjustment helps a little more. I suspect it will take several more adjustments to reach optimal pain relief. I am able to do quite a bit of work now. Much better than before the pump.
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I agree. I think many people are happy with the procedure. You are correct the 50% is what I was told by a manufactures representative. That is the criteria for going forward with the permanent implant after the trial. It seems that many people get more or less relief after the trial. Often the trial works better than the permanent implant or it takes a long time for the manufacturers rep to find a program that works well for the patient. In some cases after a successful trial, the manufacturers rep and the patient don’t find a good program and people turn the devices off and never use them or they get the device removed. I’ve had several surgeons tell me that people come to them wanting the device removed after the original doctors stonewalling the patient, or trying to convince them not to remove the devices. But like you said, a lot of people have a very good experience with the devices and just have to have routine maintenance like battery replacements, and lead adjustments and things like that in the future. The thing that surprised me most was how many people I talk to who had the device and they like the device but they were still taking pain pills. But I assume they were taking less pain pills then they took before getting the implant. Granted, my sister’s case where there was a complication with the surgery and crippled her for life is a rare event and is not the normal outcome.