Spinal Cord Stimulators: Early interventions show high success rate

As a follow up to yesterday's post, I would like to share an example-- how early interventions to treat pain at the source make good sense.

Thoracic placement of spinal cord stimulator
image source: wikimedia

Spinal cord stimulators are medical devices that have been in existence since the late 1960s-early 1970s.

When a patient has chronic back pain, a device like this can be surgically implanted ..the actual device sits in the abdomen, while the electrodes are placed in the epidural space of the spine. Once activated, the device sends electrical impulses that scramble the pain signal, and in doing so, muffle the pain sensation for that patient. The device is programmable, so that it the signals it emits can be adjusted after implantation as needed by the patient's health care team.

A recent study at Regina General Hospital in Saskatchewan regarding these devices yielded some interesting results. Krishna Kumar, MD and his group studied 443 patients who were using these devices. Seventy five percent of patients who waited 2 years or less for stimulator implants had a 75 % success rate. Those who received implants 20 years or more after onset of chronic pain showed a mere

15% success rate.

Keep in mind that not every candidate with chronic back pain is a good candidate for this device. Other issues, such as specific diagnoses, insurance coverage, psychological issues, and other underlying health conditions may prevent patients from being considered for the procedure. But when a patient is a good candidate for this treatment, and the timing is right, the odds of success are good. And, as the study suggests, sooner is better than later.

Sources: wikimedia, americannewsreport.com,wikipedia

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Living with Chronic pain hits the big screen!

Been to the movies lately? Jennifer Aniston is on the big screen in a recent release titled "Cake."
Her character, Claire is a victim of chronic pain...she belongs to a support group, where all of the members are coming to terms with the suicide of one of their members. Of course, she also takes pain medication and addiction is another of her problems...and of course there's more!

I guess I am writing this post just to bring readers' attention to the fact that Hollywood has become aware of the crisis that is chronic pain. This movie is a testament to that. People that don't have to live with this kind of pain don't fully understand the whole story. Maybe this movie will shed some light on the issues.

Here is the official trailer for the movie:

Sources: prweb;NorthJersey.com;YouTube

Herpes As A Helper?

If you've ever had shingles, or known anyone that has experienced it, you probably know that chronic pain can persist following the initial attack (post herpetic neuralgia). This is because the herpes virus seems to have an affinity for nerve cells. And while it's not fun to have shingles or post herpetic neuralgia, the herpes virus may be a key in future development of delivery systems for pain management treatments.

Here's the deal--since Herpes simplex has an affinity for nerve cells, researchers are looking a genetically modified, safer version of the virus to deliver genetic material to damaged nerves. In simple terms, once the genetic material reaches these nerve cells, it will hopefully encode these nerves to ultimately inhibit pain signals. Animal studies and clinical trials in cancer patients have been encouraging thus far.

This is one of those developments that makes me believe that there is hope for those in chronic pain. Along with so many other exciting d…

The Knee Bone's Connected To The Leg Bone....

Two recent studies have brought a not-so-novel concept into the limelight-the concept being that people who present with knee pain often develop pain in other parts of their bodies. These studies, known as the Multicenter Osteoarthritis Study (MOST) and the Osteoarthritis Initiative (OAI), were assessed by a Clinical Epidemiology Team as Boston University School of Medicine in an effort to find preventive strategies to combat this trend.

The authors suggest that knee pain may cause individuals to alter their gait in an effort to compensate for their discomfort. In doing so, the alignment of other body joints is altered, and this may be the cause of secondary joint pain, especially hips and ankles. The authors go on to say that the pain in these secondary sites is not necessarily osteoarthritis--perhaps bursitis or some other injury.

Osteoarthritis is a result of wear and tear in the joints. We may not be able to completely eliminate osteoarthritis from occurring, but some common se…

Everyday pain management ideas

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