Newport Beach Spinal Cord Stimulator Treatment

An Implant That Blocks Pain Signals

In spinal cord stimulation, a small implant device is placed near the spinal cord to block pain signals. With this treatment, more than 70% of patients report good to excellent pain relief, depending on underlying conditions.

Determining Your Pain Type

Prior to trying the spinal cord stimulator at Regenerative Institute of Newport Beach as a treatment, a careful analysis of the patient’s pain type is essential. First, the patient may undergo a test called an EMG/nerve conduction study. In this procedure, the doctor gently stimulates nerves in order to measure the speed of the body’s nerve signals.

Conditions that respond best to this treatment include:

• Neuropathies – a collection of disorders resulting from damaged nerves
• Post-traumatic neuritis – nerve pain after an injury, surgery, injections, or other medical procedures
• Complex Regional pain syndrome – chronic pain after surgery or injury
• Herpetic neuralgia – pain, headaches, and nerve problems resulting as complications from shingles, a type of syndrome caused by the chicken pox virus

The Implant Procedure

The spinal cord stimulator has two main components: a special catheter and a battery-powered electric pulse generator.

The device is inserted in two stages. The first is the trial phase, generally performed under local anesthesia. This gives the patient the opportunity to try out the device for a week or more and make sure it produces the desired results.

If successful, a permanent device similar to a pacemaker is implanted under the skin, this time using conscious sedation. The patient uses a small external controller device about the size of a cell phone to program and operate the device. Once implanted, the device should start providing pain relief by overriding the painful nerves, allowing you to enjoy a higher quality of life.

Our physician will thoroughly assess your condition before performing spinal cord stimulation. Work one-on-one with the skilled team at Regenerative Institute of Newport Beach by calling (949) 301-8683.