O.T. back injury

Hi guys, I don't want to bore you with the details, but I had a back injury a few years ago that contributed to permanent nerve damage to my low back. Nothing can be done repair wise, with any more surgery. I am going for a consultation with a spine expert and thinking of a spinal chord stimulator to keep the pain under control in my leg. Has anyone in the house had this done? or know of anyone?, I would like to hear some (hopefully) success stories or concerns.

Yep, I've got one. My main problem is with nerve pain in my back near the L4/L5 location. I also get sciatica (fire down the legs) and numbness, etc. The cord stimulator does help a lot with leg pains but it doesn't help much when my back is really hurting. So if you have mainly leg (sciatica) pain it will probably work well for you. As always though, you are not me and I am not you, so it could not work that well too.

Most surgeons and pain management docs will not implant one without a trial first, which is a good thing to make sure it works first. Be prepared to spend a few days with wires sticking out of your back for that.

Getting the location of the electrode correct is absolutely important for pain relief. They will likely install the electrode while you are conscious so that they can turn it on and get feedback about positioning and what you feel and where before they finalize the position. After it's locked down they can use the programmer to slightly tweak where the impulses are going - the electrodes have a lot of contacts with slightly different positions so that they can route the electrical signals to slightly different places after it's installed.

Spend the time to do as they recommend and get the program and selected electrodes tuned in by their rep. You'll want to do it once after the surgery and again after everything has healed up. After that every other year or so. This will keep it working as best as it can.

I am not sure how far you are from Madison but my daughter had her spine straightened a couple of years ago in UW children hospital. I was really impressed with that they talked to us about and what the options we had when we put our kid under the knife. Today she is doing well but sometimes she has this black vision when moving a certain way.

Oh, and in regards to what you said in your P.M. 5-axis - you should also look into Piriformis Syndrome just to be safe. Some of the symptoms can be very similar. Figured I'd put this here in case anyone else is dealing with similar issues.

Hey bubba. I have a fair amount of experience here. Some personal, some SWMBO. Too much to list in this little box. Stop by or arrange that burger we talked about so long ago and I'll be happy to share the experiences. Some great. Many dismal and horrible. Be diligent about your research on the stim implant. Piriformis cutting is a very valid consideration.