@greg72 I'm scheduled for a spinal cord stimulator Boston scientific and I asked the doctor if they improve their anchors on the leads because of the lead migration problem and apparently they have constantly been trying to upgrade them to alleviate the problem so I guess I'll find out however for the first 4 weeks I can't bend my back or lift anything so that they can kind of bog themselves down. So I'll guess I'll find out if they've improved it
@pen55
From personal experience, don’t hesitate to ask to have it removed if your quality of life is worse than before. I had mine (Boston Scientific) removed after two months.
Hi, my two cents are as follows: I think that the decision to get an implant for pain should ideally depend on your disease, your life situation/circumstance and also your zip code. Let me explain what I mean. When it comes to these implants, in my experience, and more important than anything else, you need to have access to at least one experienced neurosurgeon and you also need access to a top notch pain management doctor. Especially when it comes to the ScS, far too many patients either get injured by their doctor, or they end up getting no analgesic effects from the permanent stim. Even when the trial typically goes very well, with more than 50% reduction in pain, once the permanent implant is in place? No relief. The hard facts why some have good experiences with these implants and some not is, in my opinion, almost always because of the doctor/surgeon who implanted it and programmed it. For example I would NEVER have allowed an inexperienced neurosurgeon implant my pain pump. And the same goes for my ScS. I am lucky that I live in a zip code in America where I have access to the most experienced pain management doctors and some of the most excellent neurosurgeons in the country. It took me a while and a lot of trial and errors before I found this combo myself. Today I have a pain management specialist who works in tandem with the most experienced neurosurgeon
and if it weren’t for those two I believe these implants were more likely to hurt me further than to deal with my crps pain. My docs have discussed my case between themselves for yeara now, I got a report wig both of them and consequently they’ve made my case a priority, with special focus on not causing me more harm. So unless you have good access my advice is stick with oral opioids a d other pain meds instead. Only the very best pm docs and neurosurgeons can make a pain pump actually work well. A less experienced team can literally kill you, especially with the pain pump which is no joke..you carry around a 20 ml flask full of highly concentrated hydromorphone; only an expert cannplace that catheter in the right spot where it actually works. Only a highly specialised neurosurgeon can do that right and without injury. Same goes for the SCS, find the best and the brightest doctors to increase the chance of success Nd decrease the risk of permanent damage. I hope you find your team of specialist who can find the best solution for your specific situation. Everyone is different and what works for one does often not work for others. If you have a sound team I would definitely consider this implant. It can be a life saver when done right.
Today I have a pain pump from Medronics on my left side (implanted in 2022) and I also got an ScS called Eterna from Abbott, implanted on my right side (2024). Both implants help with the pain, but I stilll need orals for breakthrough
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@pen55
From personal experience, don’t hesitate to ask to have it removed if your quality of life is worse than before. I had mine (Boston Scientific) removed after two months.
Hi, my two cents are as follows: I think that the decision to get an implant for pain should ideally depend on your disease, your life situation/circumstance and also your zip code. Let me explain what I mean. When it comes to these implants, in my experience, and more important than anything else, you need to have access to at least one experienced neurosurgeon and you also need access to a top notch pain management doctor. Especially when it comes to the ScS, far too many patients either get injured by their doctor, or they end up getting no analgesic effects from the permanent stim. Even when the trial typically goes very well, with more than 50% reduction in pain, once the permanent implant is in place? No relief. The hard facts why some have good experiences with these implants and some not is, in my opinion, almost always because of the doctor/surgeon who implanted it and programmed it. For example I would NEVER have allowed an inexperienced neurosurgeon implant my pain pump. And the same goes for my ScS. I am lucky that I live in a zip code in America where I have access to the most experienced pain management doctors and some of the most excellent neurosurgeons in the country. It took me a while and a lot of trial and errors before I found this combo myself. Today I have a pain management specialist who works in tandem with the most experienced neurosurgeon
and if it weren’t for those two I believe these implants were more likely to hurt me further than to deal with my crps pain. My docs have discussed my case between themselves for yeara now, I got a report wig both of them and consequently they’ve made my case a priority, with special focus on not causing me more harm. So unless you have good access my advice is stick with oral opioids a d other pain meds instead. Only the very best pm docs and neurosurgeons can make a pain pump actually work well. A less experienced team can literally kill you, especially with the pain pump which is no joke..you carry around a 20 ml flask full of highly concentrated hydromorphone; only an expert cannplace that catheter in the right spot where it actually works. Only a highly specialised neurosurgeon can do that right and without injury. Same goes for the SCS, find the best and the brightest doctors to increase the chance of success Nd decrease the risk of permanent damage. I hope you find your team of specialist who can find the best solution for your specific situation. Everyone is different and what works for one does often not work for others. If you have a sound team I would definitely consider this implant. It can be a life saver when done right.
Today I have a pain pump from Medronics on my left side (implanted in 2022) and I also got an ScS called Eterna from Abbott, implanted on my right side (2024). Both implants help with the pain, but I stilll need orals for breakthrough