Living with chronic pain could be extremely taxing, both physically and mentally. Chronic pain could compromise a person’s ability to engage in daily activities and maintain healthy relationships with family and friends. While finding relief from persistent pain is not as easy, spinal cord stimulation The Woodlands is successful in many chronic pain patients. Spinal cord stimulation is a robust, minimally invasive therapy for numerous painful conditions that do not respond to conservative therapies. Here are some of the most prevalent chronic pain concerns your physician can address with a spinal cord stimulator.
Complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS)
CRPS is a disorder that could develop after cardiac arrest or stroke. Additionally, it could be diagnosed following trauma or surgery. Complex regional pain syndrome symptoms include sensitivity, throbbing, skin color change, stiffness, and inflammation.
CRPS is not reversible once particular symptoms like muscle spasms manifest. Though spinal cord stimulation will not address the underlying reason for CRPS, it could help you lead a more active, pain-free life.
Multiple Back Surgeries
Some patients who undergo back surgery to eliminate a portion of their vertebra to alleviate nerve compression might continue to experience pain or develop additional symptoms. This issue is referred to as a post-laminectomy syndrome, characterized by tingling, numbness, weakness, or sharp pain. If multiple back surgeries fail to relieve your chronic pain, spinal cord stimulation can help.
Degenerative Disc Disease
When injured by dehydration or other stress, vertebral discs could atrophy. Spinal discs have a reduced rate of self-repair due to a poor blood supply, and the damage could result in degenerative disc degeneration. Typical symptoms include discomfort in the hands, arms, neck, thighs, and lower back. Persons suffering from degenerative disc disease generally find sitting harder than standing, and lying down provides relief.
Arachnoiditis
Arachnoiditis could stem from problems caused by spinal surgery, epidural injections, spinal taps, or another spinal injury. This condition is characterized by the sensation of insects crawling over the skin, weakness, numbness, or tingling in the legs. Some individuals have also compared the sensation to water dripping down the leg.
Phantom Limb Pain
It is not unusual to keep experiencing phantom pain from a missing body component. Traditionally, physicians believed this was a psychological condition, but in reality, these sensations are legitimate and start within the spinal cord.
Phantom limb pain varies from mild to serious but will ultimately subside with time. In two years of amputation surgery, most patients enjoy reduced phantom limb pain. However, consult your doctor about spinal cord stimulation if the discomfort persists.
Peripheral Neuropathy
Peripheral neuropathy results from damage to your nerves situated outside the spinal cord and brain. This condition frequently induces numbness, discomfort, and weakness, typically in the feet and hands.
Peripheral neuropathy could also impair circulation, digestion, and other bodily functions. While it frequently occurs in diabetics, it can also develop for various reasons.
Pain is occasionally natural, but when the condition gets serious or does not respond to conservative therapy, it is necessary to seek a more straightforward approach. Sadly, sifting through the different treatments to discover the one that fits you could be as unpleasant as your pain itself. Physical therapy and medications are possibilities, but they do not usually provide adequate pain relief. In certain instances, though, a spinal cord stimulator can provide lasting pain relief. Consult your physician about your options.
