Nerve stimulators for pain reduction

[dylandude]

Hi, has anyone here had a stimulator installed for neuropathy? I know of 3 kinds:

SCS - spinal cord stimulator

drg - dorsal root ganglion stimulator

pns - peripheral nerve stimulator

I have heard of a few people who have had them, some with better luck than others, but not enough people to get a wide consensus about how much they reduced pain and how long they worked. Some say they worked for a while but then the benefit diminished or stopped altogether. I would be interested in hearing experiences of others who have had any of these stimulators or some other type I may not have heard of yet. Thanks.

[Micapathy]

Try Them out at your local physical therapist !!! You Will easily find out of it works for you !. Dont start buying anything het from internet. Try first !!!!

Also the chiropractor might work with electrical stimulation.

But as always : make sure they have the knowledge before you start 😉

[dylandude in reply to Micapathy]

It sounds like you're thinking of something different than I am talking about. What I was referring to are devices that are installed through surgical means and connected directly into either your spinal cord, or the nerve that comes out of your spinal cord called the dorsal root ganglion. It's a pretty big deal to have it done and pretty expensive, most would need insurance to cover it. It requires a process of first a temporary trial of wire implants connected to the control device for maybe 2 weeks and then a decision whether they help enough to want them put in permanently followed by the full blown surgery. Please correct me if I have misunderstood you. Thanks very much Micapathy!

[Micapathy in reply to dylandude]

I completly misunderstood your post 😞. Sorry !.

Your problems / suggestions are much more invasive.

Stupid Dutch Guy that didn't Read the post propperly 😂.

All the best with your search !

[dylandude in reply to Micapathy]

No worries! Everyone of us does the same thing, you're not alone. Very best to you!

[Micapathy in reply to dylandude]

Thanks !

[Arjay33]

Hi, I had a trial Spinal Cord Stimulation implant last year. The Hospital implanted a lead (connecting wire) into my spine which connected to an External Stimulator taped to my hip, controlled by a remote control. The Stimulator generates pain-masking electrical impulses (not too dissimilar from a TENS machine sensation). After 4 days they took an X-ray of my spine, cleaned everything up and reprogrammed the Stimulator based on my feedback as adjustments were made by remote to the Stimulator. After 4 more days they assessed it again and made further changes to the Stimulator.

The hardest part which they didn’t prepare me for was the level of pain where the lead was inserted into my spine when I leaned against anything or lay on my back. My movements were quite restricted and I couldn’t bathe or shower for 12 days so it was sponge bath time – woo hoo !! We had to watch to make sure there was no infection. It was interesting to feel the tingling in my leg from the stimulator which changed every time I moved positions or adjusted the remote control.

On the 4th and final visit I had the lead removed and a decision was made whether the implant was enough of a success to have a permanent Spinal Cord Stimulator implanted about a month later. Unfortunately, I’m sorry to tell you that it was not a success. They look for a 50-70% improvement in pain levels and my reduction was only 15% at best. Also, one year after a permanent implant, the effectiveness is reduced by about 20%.

Of course, everyone is different and they said they normally have about a 50% success rate, although they didn’t have any specific stats for patients who were suffering from Peripheral Neuropathy.

I hope this helps - good luck. PN definitely sucks !!