Persistent or chronic back pain affects over 8% of American adults, in many cases, becoming so severe that it interferes with the ability to perform daily activities.
Chronic back pain can make it difficult to do laundry, walk to the mailbox, or load the dishwasher. Even getting a sound and restful night’s sleep can become impossible when you have chronic back pain.
Dr. Nora Taha offers state-of-the-art pain management solutions at LiveWell Pain Management, with offices in Elmwood Park, Englewood, and Paramus, New Jersey.
Board-certified in physical medicine and rehabilitation, Dr. Taha understands the toll chronic back pain can take on your life. When conservative treatments and physical therapy fail, she may recommend patients consider a spinal cord stimulator for their chronic back pain.
Spinal cord stimulators are small medical devices implanted just beneath your skin. They help manage chronic back pain by interrupting pain signals traveling along your nerves to your brain.
With a spinal cord stimulator, you won't feel pain because your brain doesn’t get the message that your back hurts. This approach is known as neuromodulation.
The US Food and Drug Administration first approved these innovative devices in 1989. Doctors implant an estimated 50,000 spinal cord stimulators annually.
A spinal cord stimulator contains a thin wire with electrodes. We thread the wire along your spine and strategically place the electrodes; we then connect it to a control unit called a generator.
Once in place, the system delivers mild electrical impulses. These neurostimulators disrupt the pain signals your nerves send to your brain. As a result, your brain doesn’t receive pain messages from affected nerves, so it doesn’t recognize that you have any discomfort.
We implant the stimulator via a relatively minor procedure. First, we create a small pocket to hold the generator in your skin. Then, we place the electrodes in the proper position.
Thanks to advanced technology, the newest generation of spinal cord stimulators offers far more effective pain relief for many patients. Today’s stimulators offer greater relief with fewer potential side effects than ever.
Before surgically implanting a spinal cord stimulator, we have you undergo a weeklong trial for testing purposes. This period allows you to judge the device’s efficacy and allows us time to adjust the spinal cord stimulator as necessary.
To find relief from chronic back pain, book a consultation with Dr. Taha. Call the office near you or request an appointment online today.
