Spinal cord stimulator support

A spinal cord stimulator has been suggested for me. I too am interested in hearing experiences from people who have the implant.

I had a metronics put in. I was not wanting to put anything in permanently. But finally got talked into it.
Have had it in for a bit over a year I think.
I have heard great things about them. But me not so much.
I see the commercials showing a couple laughing and holding hands walking in a field.
Not my experience.
Not sure if it’s more of a trading issue or if it was just the wrong answer for me.
But, so far, it has been very disappointing.

I have a Medtronic Spinal Cord Stimulator. Unfortunately they were only able to insert one wire down my spine instead of two. This is due to my spinal cord injury. For a year I was able to walk really well and my pain was much less. After the year, I was suddenly not able to walk easily and my pain increased. I tried different programs, but nothing helped. The doctor now refuses to remove the battery. I would not recommend a S.C.S.

I had a medtronics scs implanted in 2018 after a successful trial. The permanent implant was not as effective as the trial, but it did help relieve my lower back pain. That was along with my prescribed meds. Always had a little pain, but it allowed me to become more active again. Then, in 2021, it just stopped working. A smooth-talking rep from NEVRO convinced me to have the Medtronics scs battery replaced with one of theirs, keeping the original paddle. They were not able to do the trial due to the positioning of the original paddle. The rep assured me that their unit would make everything good again.
So, I went ahead with the implant. It involved adding an adapter to the original lead going to the paddle in order to connect the new battery. The NEVRO unit has never worked. And, the adapter makes it impossible to have an MRI. So, my new pain med doc can't see what's going on in my back that's causing all the pain to return,

I am scheduled to have the SCS removed in April, If all goes well, I should be able to have an MRI. BTW, I also had a pain pump implanted last year. After many adjustments, it has provided minimal pain relief. My advice:
1. Make sure you do the trial (and, the permanent implant may not give you the same relief as the trial.
2. If you get the Medtronics unit, it has a setting that allows for an MRI. But, if for any reason you decide to switch to another unit, do not mix and match parts like I did. Have them remove all original components.

Good luck. Hope you can make an informed decision.

My husband had the NEVRO unit placed, after the trial. A person from NEVRO called him the day after placement to check pain level. The person adjusted his device while on the phone with him. Communication continued the first week. He was very pleased with the device. Charging every night was a minor issue. He recommended his friends with back issues to see pain management to see if that was something that might help him. It certainly helped his quality of life.

Thanks for your input. Wish you well in the future.

Thank you.

I have had painful small-fiber neuropathy for 12 years. My Abbott thoracic Spinal Cord Stimulator (SCS) was inserted 2 years ago and continues to reduce the otherwise severe pain in my feet by about 75% (all that was predicted by my docs and company rep), in addition to several meds.

If I needed for some reason to have my SCS removed, I would explore the possibility of Peripheral Nerve Stimulation (PNS), as discussed here:
J Hand Surg Glob Online. 2023 Jan; 5(1): 121–125.
Published online 2022 Jan 24. doi: 10.1016/j.jhsg.2021.12.012
PMCID: PMC9870788
PMID: 36704375
Upper-Extremity Peripheral Nerve Stimulators

Unfortunately, PNS cannot be used if one already has SCS in place. If PNS were not an option, I would have another SCS if my symptoms warranted.

NBR, MD

I have had mine for about 5 years and it really does help with groin and right leg pain. I recently had a health emergency and had 11 spine surgeries in the span of about 16 months. When all these surgeries were going on somehow the leads got moved so I no longer get any relief at all. Talking with my neurosurgeon and it will be removed and all the scar tissue will be removed and a new one put in. I sure hope when they are trying to get the leads out they don’t somehow disrupt the fibrin patch, bovine pericardium and all the sutures that have been placed. That is the reason for 9 of my recent surgeries. My surgeon said my dura was just crumbling in his hands. That is really my only concern is a leak. I’m sure because of my leak history I will stay in the hospital for a few days.

My Abbott SCS was implanted in June, 2017. First year was wonderful! I had 80% pain reduction. Over the next few years I had the controller adjusted every 3 months. Then it was gradually less effective over time. Now I keep it on in case it's helping. It's hard to tell, since I'm throwing several treatments in the mix for my CIDP pain in my feet and ankles. No approved neuropathy meds did anything except have unacceptable side effects, and I've been trying medications for ten years off label. For 2 years I've been having IVig infusions, and now I'm back to Dilaudid, opioid being the only thing that has helped. At bedtime and other times when the pain increases I use Lidocaine cream 5%. It numbs my feet for a while.

Jim