Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Anyone have neurostimulation, spinal cord stimulation/dorsal column stimulator?

I had surgery last March. They removed the disc's between my L4 & L5 and L5 & S1 vertebras. Put spacers and screws in both sides of my those three vertebras. Affixed rods to the screws with bone from my pelvis. They pretty much fixed the problems and pain I was having from that injury. However, they created some new problems. I'm in more pain and have more discomfort on a daily basis then I was before the surgery. It's totally different pain though, it's in the surgical area and from the surgery.

I had more spinal injections last month. They were farther away from my surgical area then the last ones I've had. I was getting inflamation, discomfort and pain to each side of the surgical area. They helped a little in the areas of the injections. As I said, I'm having most of the pain in the surgical area.

I had a MRI last week which came back good. Went to the Dr.. to get the results. We started talking about my options. I've been taking morphine, hydrocodone, flexeril to name a few for three years now. Not wanting to take the meds any longer then I have to I told my Dr. I want to be proactive and do something instead of the meds. He recommended the neurostimulation, spinal cord stimulation/dorsal column stimulator. They'll put a temporary one in to see if it'll help or not. If it does, I'll have to have surgery again to put the permanent one in. Have any of you ever had this done, or know anyone who has?

I have to get back to normal as best I can as soon as I can. I can't do $h!t. Can't work. Can really hunt, I have to stay within eye sight of my truck. I do it because my son (10) loves to go. Don't know what I'd do if I actually got a deer this past season. Can hardly shoot. Can't work on my Camaro. Can't walk any lengths. Thank goodness for my 4x4 ATV, I have a 5 ft. plow on it. There's no way I can shovel and walking behind my snowblower bothers me after a few minutes. It has effected every aspect of my life. My wife has to do things that she shouldn't have to do. If it wasn't for her I'd really be $crewed.

Thanks, NYH1.

It was laid out as an option to me last summer and after some inquiries, I decided against it. I talked to several people that had gone this route, and though they claimed it was effective short term, they said it ran its course by the time six months or so had lapsed and no longer received any benefit. I decided I didn't want a surgical implant that might not give me significant long term relief. Of course, everyone reacts differently to different treatments, including pharmaceuticals.
I'm still searching......

one of my best buds had one installed several years back. His has an internal battery that is charged by induction.
Ray says it has made a sea change in his life. Sometimes a bit of complication, but it has vastly improved his quality of life.

If you like, maybe I could put the two of you together to discuss it?

My son had a badly ruptured disc in his lower back. We tried steroid injections, most pain drugs available and eventually a discextomy. Resulting scar tissue from the surgery eventually made things worse. Pain medication started to take us down the road to dependency. We even looked into disc replacement but found that was not a good option for young males. It was looking dismal as he was only 20 years old.

Then our surgeon suggested a Neurostimulater. We had one temporarily installed for a trial period with the battery and stimular remaining outside the body. My son estimated pain reduction was about 80%. Given the positive result, a permanent model was installed some weeks later, with all components surgically implanted. That was over two years ago. The stimulator continues to provide relief. Pain is still there but vastly reduced. His quality of life has been greatly improved.

If you chose to go that route, be sure and go for a trial version. Our surgeon told us that some folks cannot tolerate the sensation of the stimulator while others have claimed it has saved their life. We thankfully were one of the latter.

Be sure and check with your insurance and get preapproved for the procedure. Some insurances may not cover this type of surgery. We had a short battle with ours, but after a letter from our prominent back specialist all went through.

Best of luck.

I have one in my back. I have trouble in the L4-L5 area as well and had surgery back in 07. It took care of the constant leg/hip pain but would still have leg/hip pain when I would do something to irritate it. But, like you, I began to have pain in my lower back. Surgeon said I had too many things wrong with my back and was afraid he would too more harm than good if he went back in.

Two years later when things got pretty bad, I went to a pain interventionist that suggested the stimulator. The temporary one seemed to help some so had the permanent one put in. It helped the leg pain again but did not do away with it when it would come back. But it did NOTHING to help the pain in the lower back area. The doctor told me that it was not designed to alleviate that pain. It might be a different deal than what they are wanting to put in your back though. I rarely ever charge mine anymore as it no longer seemed to do much if anything. Good luck to you-Eddie

NYH1,

SO very sorry to hear of the troubles! Wow. No input on the stimulator but I wanted to say something as I had no idea your injuries were that bad. I hope that what they do works for you. REALLY do, amigo. Please do keep us posted and updated, OK?

Blessings,

MARK

PS I understand on the wife having to do stuff that we wish we could do. I went through some of that when I was at my worst a few weeeks ago and still do to an extent. Hurts us men in our very guts, so for that reason if no other I hope for relief for you.

Get qualified medical advice before you do it! A friend of ours had that procedure done in 2011 and he is now paralyzed from the neck down and will spend the rest of his life in a wheelchair. One of my secretaries had this done between Thanksgiving and Christmas and the procedure has been a dismal failure. She is still in constant pain, now bedridden and, today, applied for a disability retirement at a very young age.

I admit I am only a laymen but this, from all accounts, is a risky surgery with a good chance of it being a resounding failure. 2 for 2 here and both are in bad shape....I'd think twice.

I have no experience with E-stim for pain control but do have for other reasons. My son had an off road bike accident in August of 2010 and after a laminectomy of c2 thru c6 he was left a paraplegic. He has had constant therapy and medication ever since and has regained use of his left side fairly well ,enough to take some care of himself. Spasticity in his right side has made walking difficult and no use of his right arm is practically nil. He has had Botox injections in his right arm and they have done some good and he had the second round of them today. He has never been able to unclinch his right hand without aid since the accident. Two weeks ago they prescribed and fitted him with an elastic glove that he wears at night and it electrically stimulates that hand 20 minutes of each hour all night. After only 3 days of this therapy he is able ,with no assisstance open his fist and straighten his fingers. He has also been able to splay his fingers which he could not even do with assissiance. So we are believers in the efficacy of Estim on nerves. I would certainly pray it could do the same for you with pain. His next step is also an implant,but it's a pump to inject the medication Baclofen directly into his spinal cord cavity. They put a catheter in the spne low down and run a slender tube up to the site of the injury then implant a delivery tube under the skin to the belly area and implant a pump/resevoir to deliver the drug. The tests showed it to offer great promise on his walking. You will be added to our prayer chain and will trust you will get some respite from the pain.

At my work we put quite a few of these in people. Mostly, probably about 95% have good outcomes and enjoy substantially reduced pain. Keep in mind that you'll have a sub-Q battery implanted between the ventral muscle wall and the skin which will take some getting used to.

A word of caution...If you have this done and everything works out remember that just because you can't feel pain does not mean that you're not doing damage to your spine. You've had two levels fused with instrumentation and as such it will be very easy for you to blow out L3-L4. Take it easy on yourself.

Thanks for all the replies. I really appreciate it.

My wife and I have to talk to my doctors and get more information about it. They'll put one in for a week to see if it works first. If it does, then they'll put the permanent one in. We have a lot of thinking to do.

Thanks, NYH1!

I have discussed this as well as the injection model with my pain specialist.
For now I will remain on pain meds as well as a couple of injections a year.
They usually last about 6 or 7 months,I am still in pain but it helps me deal with it while getting on with life.
Let us know how it works for you.
Good Luck