One in five people in the United States suffers from chronic pain, and certain conditions account for a large majority of these numbers. We take a look at five of these conditions and how we can help you find relief.
Approximately one million people in the United States live with multiple sclerosis (MS), which is a highly complex neurological condition that’s often frustrating to manage. If you’re struggling to find solutions for the wide range of symptoms that come with MS, a spinal cord stimulator may provide the solution you’re looking for.
As pain management and neurological specialists, Sachida Manocha, MD, and the team here at Interventional Pain Center fully comprehend how difficult it can be to treat MS, which is why we’re excited by the successes of neuromodulation, or, more specifically, spinal cord stimulation.
Here’s a look at the potential role spinal cord stimulation can play in helping improve your quality of life when you have MS.
Multiple sclerosis is a condition in which your immune system attacks your central nervous system, damaging your nerves and disrupting the messaging between your body and your brain. This can lead to a variety of symptoms, such as numbness or weakness in one or more limbs, tremors, fatigue, and vision problems.
Interestingly, spinal cord stimulation also alters the messaging between your body and your brain. However, spinal cord stimulation offsets the garbled messaging created by MS.
To accomplish this, we implant a device that emits electrical impulses into your spinal cord. First, we place thin wires into the epidural space along your spine. We then attach these wires to a small pulse generator and implant it into your abdomen or buttocks.
Before we implant a spinal cord stimulator, we conduct a trial run to ensure that this treatment will be effective for you.
Spinal cord stimulation has been used for decades, quite successfully, for people who are struggling with chronic pain, post-surgical pain, and spinal cord injuries. However, its use in patients with MS is fast gaining acceptance as an effective treatment for some of the more problematic symptoms that come with MS.
As an example, an analysis of seven studies conducted among people living with MS found spinal cord stimulation “to be effective at improving motor disorders, urinary dysfunction, and neuropathic pain — the 3 principal functional limitations among these individuals.”
The breakdown of the analysis, which included 455 patients, was this:
Another study of a single patient that documented the long-term use of spinal cord stimulation for MS reported a “77% reduction in pain and a 99% reduction in opioid use” at the 24-month mark.
As you can see by these two reports alone, spinal cord stimulation has proven to be an effective and sustainable approach to managing the symptoms of MS.
If you’d like to explore whether spinal cord stimulation may be an effective tool in better managing your MS, book an appointment online or over the phone with Interventional Pain Center today.
You Might Also Enjoy...
One in five people in the United States suffers from chronic pain, and certain conditions account for a large majority of these numbers. We take a look at five of these conditions and how we can help you find relief.
Back straight, shoulders back — you may have disliked these orders when your parents gave them, but, as always, they were right. Slouching can lead to painful health problems that you can avoid with good posture.
The battle against cancer is one that’s fought on two fronts: the cancer itself and the unwelcome side effects that come with cancer treatments. Medical marijuana may be able to help on both fronts.
The list of causes of back pain is a long one and osteoporosis certainly accounts for its fair share, especially as you grow older. Here’s a look at how bone loss can lead to back pain and what we can do to help.
Entering a new year is a great time to pause and take stock of the areas in which we want to make improvements. There’s a good case for putting your back in the middle of these efforts, and we can help you get started.
You’re experiencing strange sensations in your feet or hands. Or, you feel nothing at all. These symptoms often signal peripheral neuropathy, which is the medical term for nerve damage. Here’s what you should know.