Spinal cord stimulators

I have a Medtronic SCS. For the first year it was amazing. I was able to walk for miles and my pain was eased, but suddenly my pain returned and I could only walk a very short distance. The pain specialist is going to work with Medtronic to try and resolve the problem.

I had a Metronic system implanted in 2017 for cervical stimulation and an Abbott system implanted in 2023 for lumbar stimulation. Both are working well and meet the clinical target of providing at least 50% pain reduction. However, in order to manage your expectations, it's important to understand that spinal cord stimulation is just one tool in your pain relief toolbox. They are not a magical cure. It may require some time to get the programming right. You may still need pain meds, you still need to exercise, and you may need to consider lifestyle modifications.

Once implanted and programmed, the system should provide a fairly consistent level of pain relief unless there is some type of adverse event like lead migration, lead breakage, or battery failure. In the absence of that, any increase in pain level is most likely due to a change in body mechanics or structure based on my experience.

February 2023, I had the Abbott Burst implanted, worked with the reps to control the lower spinal pain, only to have sciatica due to the size of the battery on my 5'7" 120 frame. July 2023, the Burst was removed for the Eterna, and after many reprograming, the device was easing pain away, until this year, with more visits from the rep to control the pain level down the leg while sitting. While in Europe in October 2024, neglected to turn device back on after two airport screenings, realizing three weeks later, the device was off.
I met with the neurosurgeon in late December, and his reply is what you are reading from others, it is a 50% consensus relief, and I gave it more of a "college try". I am awaiting to have it removed next month. All I can do is stay fit, exercise, lift weights, and stay positive. I also have scoliosis progressing, of which that is another matter, and didn't help with the SCS.

I will add my experience to the mix. I had the Medtronic SCS implanted in 2018 after a successful trial. My pain level dropped down to about a 2. Along with several meds, I was living a pretty normal life. However, all my pain began to return in February of 2021. That was a after a short session of gentle skiing. Did that cause the problem? No one knows. I wish that I had thought to check to see if I still got that "shocking" feeling(paresthesia) when I laid down on a hard surface like when I used to get. That would have been an indicator as to whether or not the stimulator was still working. I had the SCS hardware removed in May of 2023 and tried to have a trial of newer SCS. However, excess scar tissue prevented them from getting the trial leads in the "sweet spot", so no successful trial. Since then I have seen many on this site reporting bad experiences with these devices. Hard to know what to believe these days.