Severe SI joint pain and pain stimulators

I don't know if my painful glutes are the same thing as what you are experiencing, but I have had SI joint injections... to no avail. It always feels like I am sitting in something hard in each butt cheek when I am sitting. I ad some very temporary relief fromt he pain afew months ago after a trial of the morphine pain pump. The pain almost disappeared, but I could still feel whatever it was in or under my glutes. I had the pain pump implanted back in April and, so far, that pain still has not gone away. Still trying to get the dosage adjusted to get the same relief I had during the pain punp trial which brought my pain level down from about an 8 to a 2. Had pump evaluated for proper operation and med delivery and all seems to be good.

I'm scheduled for an SI injection in about 3 weeks. My pain is centered down by my tailbone and spreads across my lower back and down my leg and causes such a deep ache that I can't sit still and laying down can make it worse. I hope and pray I get some relief from the injection.

My pain is directly on the SI bone and around the SI joint. I have had 9 failed back surgeries. 7 of those have been to the right SI joint. I had all the injections. None of them never worked. The doctor that did all my surgeries said the pain pump and pain stimulator won’t work with my type of pain. The Mayo doctor thinks it will. From what I’m reading it seems like there are more negatives to the stimulator than positive. I haven’t read yet that it’s helped with other peoples pain.

None of the injections helped me. I’m past injections, 9 (fusions) surgeries, PT, rhyzomity. Nothing has worked. I’m hoping to find someone that has had failed SI joint fusion surgery and is now wearing a stimulator and it is successful. I haven’t heard anything positive about the pain stimulator yet.

You can have a trial of the spinal cord stimulator. Simple process. It’s done in the doc’office. Temporary electrode is placed along the spinal cord, and temp leads come out and are connected to a temporary stimulator battery that’s taped to your back. Wear it for 3 to 5 days. See if you get at least 50% pain reduction. If not, on your way. If you get decent relief, then you are considered a good candidate for the permanent implant. Then the ball is in your corner. Similar process with the pain pump.
I got about 80% relief with stimulator trial. Only about 60% with permanent implant. Still good, though.
Hope this helps. God bless.

Thank you for the info. I did meet with a pain doc and she also explained this. Do you have SI joint pain also? I agree 60 percent relief is still pretty good. I would be happy if I got at least half of pain relief. I just read so many people not having relief with the pain stimulator. Can I ask you which stimulator you went with? If I do this I will go with the Medtronic chargeable battery one.
The pain pump looks too big to put in your body. I can’t imagine having that implanted in me.
I’m assuming if you want the permanent one, they take the temporary one out at the same time they put the permanent one in?

I had the Medtronics SCS for about three years and then it just sort of stopped woking. I swapped it out for the Nevro which also did nothing. The Nevro rep checked the electrode paddle and said some of the electrodes were burned out. So, I don't know if it's the unit or the electrode that was the problem. To your point regarding the pain pump... yes, it is a bit large, but you get used to it after a while and the body slowly closes tissue around it over time. You definitely want to do a trial with the pain pump. The one I did was just a shot using a catheter that was placed into the space around the spinal cord. The meds are injected and the catheter is removed and a band aid is placed on the site, I had to have two injections, as the first one did not provide any relief. So, no, there is no implanted device for the trial.

Thank you for the info. Are you also suffering from SI joint issues? I haven’t heard a positive outcome yet for the stimulators or pump from anyone. I’m reluctant to get it. I really wish they could figure out what’s causing my pain instead of masking it with something that by the sounds of it may not work.
I hope you can get pain relief too. It sounds like you have been through a lot.

You are welcome. I wish I could reach out and give you a healing touch. I keep telling doctors, "Look, for every effecr, there's a cause. My effect is that I have continued pain in my buttocks. Therefore, something is causing it. Please identify the cause and treat it". Ha! Lot's of luck.
Even if you are hesitant to have either of these procedures, I would want to know, by having the relatively non-invasive trial, if either one provides relief. But, that's just me. I wish you well on your pain journey.
God bless!

I had the failed surgeries and decided to take the trial for the implant. I got really good results and have had the permanent one for 3 years now. I have never been sorry. I get about a 95 percent relief with it. My Implant is good for ten years, and it's given me a new lease on life. Mine is a Boston scientific also produced by Medtronic. Mine is located in my back right above my hip. Good luck with the trial.