Robin,I wish I could give you info but I don't have one. I actually don't know alot about them either.

Good luck & I hope it works.

Might be a question better suited to the back group. Take their answers with a grain of salt. Or better yet read their replies, go back and say thank you and leave.

Doug/Ouch

Robin, My pain doc has told me that this is a last resort to when pain meds don't work anymore. The only things that I know about it is that it is a major surgery and that the recovery time is quite long. My pain doc said that he was sure that it would help me to get rid of my pain. But I am not so sure, some of the others that I have talked to said that it didn't work that well for them. I am sorry that I don't know anything more. Doug may be right to go to the other group with this. I am not sure where your pain comes from, but maybe they could offer you with some advice. If I could help you with anything else, just let me know.
God's Blessings to you and your surgeons.
Pam

I do have a spinal cord stimulator. Both the trial and the actual implant were really minor procedures. Most insurance companies require the trial, which involves just a small cut to put the leads in - not even any stitches. Why not try it?

Mine is made by Advanced Bionics - it's very small, then there are leads stretching up from it (in my hip) to the spinal column. I'm kind of skinny, so on me everthing is visible, but usually people have enough body fat to sort of bury the things, under the fat next to the muscle. This also, if I were fatter, would help everything stay in place better. Mine moves a bit.

The SCS has dropped off the lower 80% of my pain... the everyday ache is almost no longer discernable. I can sit like a normal person now, most of the time, with my feet under me - instead of my leg out straight and elevated. I can sometimes get away with sleeping on my left side.

For some reason, I am going through a horrible breakthrough pain period - I don't know what triggered it, and the SCS can't really cover that. But still it is worth it to me, I would do it again, and if the breakthrough period ever ends, I will be able to cut back on meds like when I first got it.

Some people are able to get off meds altogether, some are able to cut back substantially. Peripheral neuropathies (me) are prime candidates for it. I'm going to go pick up some PERCOCET (oh, beloved Percocet, my Holy Grail this week)... Please feel free to write to me personally with any questions you have, or we can do this on the boards so other people can learn about the treatment.

hugs.