Spinal Cord Stimulation in Houston

Chronic, severe pain can destroy your quality of life, especially when standard medications or even steroid injections can’t get the pain under control. Spinal cord stimulation can ease your pain by masking the pain signals transmitted from your spinal cord to your major nerves. Here at NW Surgery, we’re proud to offer spinal cord stimulation in Houston.

What Is Spinal Cord Stimulation?

Spinal cord stimulation, also known as dorsal column stimulation, typically serves as the last resort between steroid injections and major spinal surgery for the treatment for intractable, debilitating pain. Many people who undergo a spinal cord stimulation procedure experience a reduction in pain levels of up to 70 percent. This pain-relieving potential makes it a useful supplement to other pain management methods as part of a holistic treatment plan.

How Does it Work?

3D medical illustration of a human body under going Spinal Cord Stimulation treatment.Spinal cord stimulation works by disrupting the flow of pain signals between the spinal cord and the rest of the nervous system. Electrical leads deliver current to the epidural space between the vertebral bones and the spinal cord. This current changes pain signals into a tingling sensation.

A spinal cord stimulation procedure consists of two main stages. In the first stage, your doctor will insert the leads temporarily in the form of removable needles. You then live for a week with this temporary solution to see whether it provides effective pain relief. If it does, you’ll undergo spinal cord stimulation surgery to have the leads permanently implanted.

Conditions Treated by Spinal Cord Stimulation

Spinal cord stimulation in Houston can address severe pain caused by many chronic spinal or neurological conditions. You may be a good candidate for spinal cord stimulation if you suffer from any of the following issues.

  • Man is suffering from Postoperative pain after a failed back surgery.Postoperative pain – Back surgery doesn’t always prove completely successful. Some people develop a problem called failed back surgery syndrome in which they continue to struggle with chronic pain. Others continue to feel pain following an amputation.
  • Neuropathy – Chronic nerve pain, or neuropathy, frequently occurs as a complication of diabetes, chemotherapy, radiation therapy, or injuries that crush the nerves.
  • Visceral pain – Spinal cord stimulation surgery can ease chronic heart pain from angina as well as chronic perineal or abdominal discomfort.
  • Vascular pain – Conditions such as peripheral vascular or arterial disease can cause pain while also reducing blood flow to the limbs and internal organs.

Types of Spinal Cord Stimulators

All types of spinal cord stimulators consist of electrical leads, a battery of some sort, and controls for adjusting the signal strength. The main differences involve the battery type and placement, with different options providing different advantages in specific cases.

3D medical illustration of a human body under going Spinal Cord Stimulation treatment.If you suffer from chronic pain in just one body part, you may want to receive an implantable pulse generator, or IPG. This common type of spinal cord stimulator features an internal battery that can last for many years before you must replace it through a second surgery.

If you have pain in multiple body parts, you may need a rechargeable IPG that can interrupt pain signals over a larger area. The most powerful option, a radiofrequency stimulator powered by an external battery, may make sense if you struggle with severe lumbar or leg pain.

Benefits of Spinal Cord Stimulation

For many people with severe, chronic pain, ongoing doses of medication can only go so far. Spinal cord stimulation can free you from the need to take constant, ever-increasing doses as your only means of relief. It can also help you avoid the absolute last resort for chronic pain relief, major spinal surgery, allowing you to return to your everyday life more quickly and easily.

Let NW Surgery Help You

NW Surgery can help you achieve dramatic relief from your chronic pain problem. As Houston’s leading physician-owned surgical facility, licensed by both Medicare and the State of Texas, our team offers many years of pain management experience along with our orthopedic surgical skills. We can most likely accept your in-network health insurance, but we’re also happy to work with individuals who lack coverage.

Discover the Power of Spinal Cord Stimulation

If you need a more powerful form of chronic pain management than you’ve been able to find through conventional measures, ask our team about spinal cord stimulation in Houston. We can help you determine whether this procedure makes sense for you and connect you with a top-quality specialist when it’s time to undergo the procedure itself. Contact NW Surgery today to learn more.