I might be incorrect but if surgery is an option I believe then an SCS is not an option at the same time. The SCS is done in cases where surgery, or further surgery, is not an option. Once you do a SCS I don't know that a physician would later want to do surgery such as a MISS as the SCS is a permanent implant.
if surgery is an option I believe then an SCS is not an option at the same time. The SCS is done in cases where surgery, or further surgery, is not an option. Once you do a SCS I don't know that a physician would later want to do surgery such as a MISS as the SCS is a permanent implant.
SpineAZ,
Thank for indicating. I knew you are right .I just concern because one neuro surgeon I recenly saw said I have no surgery option. but I believe if I bring my new MRI to see those surgeons who I already saw. they probably will say I still have surgery option. Then I have to choose who I can trust and which surgery is more safe. But now my understand is that SCS only can do when the patient has no surgery option NOW ( no matter he/she did or didn’t do surgery) but surgery can ‘t do after SCS.I hope I am right.
__________________
had herniated disc in L5_s1 four years ago, have
had persistent right leg until now.
.
I have had the IDET in 2000 and just recently had L-4 through S-1 laminectomy with IBF and Instrumentation in July of this year. I have been having new symptoms of cold sensation in my left leg that is getting very painful with the numbness and tingling in the leg as well, My doctor is going to try and dissolve some of the scar tissue on monday and if that does not work in two weeks he wants to try this SCS. I am concerned however as I used to do the trial implantation of this same device used for bladder incontinence. I hdid not see many positive results with where they implanted the main device in the buttocks. My patients complained all the time about pain and discomfort, and many had them removed. Can any one tell me if they are cumbersome, painful, as I am only 42 and newly married .... still want a life beyond back pain....Thank you for any replys you might have.
I have had the IDET in 2000 and just recently had L-4 through S-1 laminectomy with IBF and Instrumentation in July of this year. I have been having new symptoms of cold sensation in my left leg that is getting very painful with the numbness and tingling in the leg as well, My doctor is going to try and dissolve some of the scar tissue on monday and if that does not work in two weeks he wants to try this SCS. I am concerned however as I used to do the trial implantation of this same device used for bladder incontinence. I hdid not see many positive results with where they implanted the main device in the buttocks. My patients complained all the time about pain and discomfort, and many had them removed. Can any one tell me if they are cumbersome, painful, as I am only 42 and newly married .... still want a life beyond back pain....Thank you for any replys you might have.
Well Ill tell you about my situation, I had mine installed in august of this year. Yes there is some mild discomfort. For me, where the unit itself was, just above my hip in the love handle, was perfect. I had NO issues of discomfort at all. I had incision pain for about a week. I unfortuneatally, ended up with a staph infection that just about killed me and had to have it all removed. But yes it is very helpful for most people. You will do a trial first to make sure that it helps you. Do not worry about infection tho, chances of it happening are very slim. Mine was a fluke. I am going to have it all installed again once I heal up enough to get it done.
I started to think the SCS is a smaller surgery than general MicroDiscectomy in everywhere ( risk, surgery time, incision) but now I think I am wrong because SCS will take about 2 -4 hours and there are two incisions and the bigest one can be 3 inches long. It maybe fit me ( I have leg pain but one surgeon said I have no surgery option) but is not a good choice for me right now.
__________________
had herniated disc in L5_s1 four years ago, have
had persistent right leg until now.
.
I started to think the SCS is a smaller surgery than general MicroDiscectomy in everywhere ( risk, surgery time, incision) but now I think I am wrong because SCS will take about 2 -4 hours and there are two incisions and the bigest one can be 3 inches long. It maybe fit me ( I have leg pain but one surgeon said I have no surgery option) but is not a good choice for me right now.
Hi I read your message about you getting the SCS I had 3 herniated disks and 1 bulging but the worst part is the nerve damage I sustained the bad disks are l3 l4 l5 and the s1 area I just had the SCS implant 10 weeks ago and it works great for my daily pain BUT as soon as I do any activities like go to the store for an hour or my daily walk even just sitting on the floor playing with my son for 10 min's causes the nerve to just shut me down the pain becomes so bad I cant even think. I understand the SCS cannot help that issue it just helps with the normal pain. I still cannot believe the Dr.s could not fix this I saw 3 different Dr.s and they all kept saying they were going to surgically correct it (lamenectomy-lamenetomy-micro disketomy etc...)but they did nothing one said my lower back was so bad he would have to fuse my lower back but I was to young (44) and to healthy to do this so they recommended the SCS which works great as long as I do nothing and that sucks my life is horrible and I dont know what I am going to do of course this was a workers comp claim and these Dr.s are a-holes. My pain is in my lower back from a deep throb to sharp shock like pains depending on what I do then the pain is in my butt and hip and my outside thigh has a big lump on it that just burns with pain then the lower leg is also sore and my toes are always freezing and burning I described the toe pain kind of like a cold slushy feeling with sharp and sore toes which I can barely move so you tell me if there is something really wrong here living like this is horrible I have not fished or hunted or have done any normal activities in 2 years now I only hope someone can fix me someday. I had the SCS implant 10 weeks ago and I am still healing I start physical therapy in 2 weeks the surgery itself was really painful for the 1st week then it slowly decreased whatever you do - do not do anything like bend to much or lift anything you will know when your back starts to scream do what the DR says it will benefit you
other wise the SCS is ok you feel it in your butt and your back and you wont really be able to lie on the floor it will feel weird but otherwise you will get use to it , charging the unit is easy I have mine on for 2 days straight then I will shut it off once and a while for a couple hours to give it a rest my charge lasts about 2 weeks but I reccomend it if you got good results from your temp. For the record I had mri;s -x-rays -a myelogram- venus dopler tests-nerve tests-transforaminal injection-epidurals 3-sympathetic injections 2 and none really helped I got relief from the transforaminal and the epidurals for approx a month to 3 months but just some relief but all the pain came back.
My incisions are 3" in my back and 3" on my butt hip area
Thank you very much for letting me know your experience. I am sorry to heard that your SCS surgery is not pretty successful . But I don’t know what is that your surgeon going to do to fix it now. I guess you haven’t done any surgery before you did SCS. I hope someone can do something to decrease you pain. but I don’t know if He should remove your SCS first or not because
I think it is difficult to do something when SCS is still in there. I haven’t done SCS yet and also not going to do it , I don’t think it is a good choice to me.
Good luck, I hope you can find a good surgeon to fix this problem soon.
Thanks!
__________________
had herniated disc in L5_s1 four years ago, have
had persistent right leg until now.
.
I have had the IDET in 2000 and just recently had L-4 through S-1 laminectomy with IBF and Instrumentation in July of this year. I have been having new symptoms of cold sensation in my left leg that is getting very painful with the numbness and tingling in the leg as well, My doctor is going to try and dissolve some of the scar tissue on monday and if that does not work in two weeks he wants to try this SCS. I am concerned however as I used to do the trial implantation of this same device used for bladder incontinence. I hdid not see many positive results with where they implanted the main device in the buttocks. My patients complained all the time about pain and discomfort, and many had them removed. Can any one tell me if they are cumbersome, painful, as I am only 42 and newly married .... still want a life beyond back pain....Thank you for any replys you might have.
I recently went in for second opinion as I feel my back surgeon is just passing me on to the pain management doc and at my second docs he stated that it is way to soon to jump into the SCS as my surgery is only 5 months old and now he is sending me for MRI and Bloodwork to check for infection as a possible issue. My PM doc has injected me 1 month ago with the epidural steroids, was not helpful, now 1 week ago he injected my spine with enzymes and steroids to try and break up yhe scar tissue, this to has not helped. I started complaining of this leg coldness and buttocks pain almost immediatly after surgery and am afraid he may have nicked some nerves and I will have to live with this more severe pain than I had before the surgery. I have also gotten a permanent disability parking permit so I can at least walk into the store without haveing to stop and rest due to the pain and spasms I have.
thank you so much for your post. it helped me out tremendously. I have terrible disc pain, but no anatomical reason for it, which is why my PM thinks i'm a good candidate for the SCS. Thanks for doing such a good job of explaining this to me!
I might be incorrect but if surgery is an option I believe then an SCS is not an option at the same time. The SCS is done in cases where surgery, or further surgery, is not an option. Once you do a SCS I don't know that a physician would later want to do surgery such as a MISS as the SCS is a permanent implant.
I believe that the SCS is semi-permanent in that it is implanted, but if you, for any reason, wanted it removed, it can be taken out. right?
I have read the many comments and I would like to add a little input. First the psychological exam is not required by the manufacturer of the SCS units. If is required by the INSURANCE COMPANY! The reason why is because first of all, it is a risky surgery. There are risks post surgery in the first 6 - 8 weeks after it is implanted. They want the leads to have scar tissue develope to hold them in place. Moving the wrong way can cause the leads to move and render them ineffective, and if they move it could do permanent damage to your spine. Also once those leads are in you can no longer take a MRI, ultrasound, or have defibulators used on you. You have to carry a card that warns people that you have these implanted leads and battery in you. The psychological exam has no short questionaire that can be issued by your pain doctor, or personal family physician. You have to go to a board certified pyschiatrist and the questionaire is 601 questions long! They want to make sure that you truly need the unit because of the risk involved and the major precautions that go along with having one installed. Once the leads are in and get calcified with scar tissue those areas where the leads attach will never come out without a risk so great doctors won't even attempt to remove them. I've had my trial period and in 3 weeks the permanent unit is installed. I have watched the videos, read message boards, consulted with my PMS and programmer, and even went so far to ask my PMS and programmer; "What happens if one or both of you ever leave my area, or I end up moving to another state? Who takes care of this?" I ended up having to take new insurance through my wife's company, and the doctor who did my fusion was not on their list of providers. When I had follow up problems I couldn't find a doctor who would remove the plates and screws from my fusion which loosened, and I had to pay out of my pocket what my insurnace wouldn't cover for using a non provider. I had the plate loosen and one of the screws was hitting a nerve to the point that not only was it painful, it was damaged. So there are lots of questions that need to be answered when you do the SCS as a form of treatment.
Hi i can help due to i had a med-tronics scs implant on sept 23 2009 they do perform a laminectomy so they can slide the unit up into the spinal canal my surgery took approx 2 1/2 hrs i went in on a monday 8am and left on wed around noon it did hurt once i awoke in my room but they were ready with pain meds once i got up to go to the bathroom it hurt but things got better it was expected once home it was slow going very sore for about a week you have to be careful so it can heal and adhear to your body i had 3 hurniated disks bulging disks severe nerve damage my left leg was dead toes numb frozen burning etc... And it did help with some of my back pain and leg pain but only when i was home basically doing nothing as soon as i would move around or become active boom the pain would become unreal...this leading to a 3 level laminectomy and disketomy on sept 20 2010 my pain started to go into my right leg now after this surgery the right leg pain has pretty much gone away but my right leg is bad and i am still not good this leading to yet another surgery i am being scheduled to have a s2 s1 l5 l4 fusion in march i can only prey that fusing these areas and stopping the movement that causes the nerves to explode helps....and yes the wires can be felt the almost come to the surface in my back it feels weird then you can follow them down through my skin to my upper butt where the scs is and that feels like a small cell phone in your *** it is a weird feeling but i got use to it it hurts if i lay on it or on the scs so you have to be careful but i really cannot lay on my back unless on the couch and that does not bother it. As for the battery they said it lasts approx 8-10 years now i have a med tronics i did have to go back to my pm dr 2 times thats where your rep will meet you to adjust your scs now i have 3 programs and use it everyh day for approx 18 hrs and sometimes i sleep with it on 50/50 i charge the unit approx every 2-3 weeks it lasts that long it is a pain you have to strap this belt around your waist placed over the scs and sit pretty still for approx 3 hrs and make sure you have a good connection it is easy you get use to it....it sounds bad or hard but actually its not bad i am use to it now..it does help me but like i said only when i am basically doing nothing but then again my back is prett bad if this fusion helps i will wait approx a year then have the scs removed...yeah i pray every day it helps now as for the 3 level laminectomy....wow...whole new pain level after surgery i can take alot of pain so after my roommate who screamed and cried for 2 days about his pain showed me his surgery i laughed he had a 1/2 incision from a laser surgery with 2 stitches..lol when he saw my insicion he felt like an ***...lol...it was painful when i woke in my room twice as bad as the scs it took me 2 1/2 days to get out of that frikkin hospital bed but once i did i left on the 3rd day...took a couple weeks at home to feel good but it was ok ...not looking forward to the fusion espesially the pelvis graft where they will take bone from...lol just another scar but i am getting use to all the pain its a wonder how one can take so much pain...good luck to you and try to take as little pain killers as you can there not good...and i did have to have a phsyc exam it was not bad 30 mins and not 600 questions...good luck to you
Hello deviphish
I've been dealing with pain 24/7 between 8-10 for almost 30 years now. Had left laminectomy and partial facetectomy L3-L5 in June 2010. Surgery took some of the pressure off of the nerves, but they were already permanently damaged, so no pain relief. Since I can't really function on the amount of meds needed to relieve the pain the SCS was suggested. I've done the SCS trial - was supposed to have it for 5 days and was glad they extended it for 8 - even though the leads moved some resulting in less coverage, I still got almost 70% decrease in pain in lumbar and leg and only took meds at night. Did not get as much coverage in the buttock as needed but that will be adjusted with the permanent one. I used mine 24/7, just adjusted the level needed at night. I will be getting the permanent one the end of March - sooo excited. The trial surgery was done in my PM Dr. office's procedure room; they used conscious sedation for putting in the leads (I didn't feel anything) and then I was awake in order to let them know where I felt the stimulation. The permanent surgery will take about3 hours, considered major surgery, will be done in the surgery center as outpatient surgery, so once I’m out and recovered, I go home. It will be the same as the trial except after they wake me up to let them know where I feel the stimulation, then they'll sedate me again in order to implant the battery. The recovery time after will be 6-8 weeks of the same restrictions after back surgery. Also, my dr. says I MUST take antibiotics for the first week or two of the permanent one and the ENTIRE time the trial one is in. The psych exam I took was several questions to determine why I wanted the SCS, if I got pain relief would it result in more functionality, how much of a support network I have, etc. As far as your question about another laminectomy, I was told that is only if the paddle leads are used and there is not enough space in the epidural space where they are placed (usually the cervical area). Battery life varies depending on the type of battery, amount of usage, level of usage, how low it gets before it’s recharged, etc. I’ve been told that whether or not you’ll feel the battery or leads depends on where they are placed, your size and the size of the battery you choose. Also, the size of the incision will vary depending on the size of the battery. My SCS is from St. Jude Medical < edited > and they have patient ambassadors that’ve had the SCS for 5+ years – I don’t know if you have to have/or be getting your SCS from them to contact one, but you could check – just another source of someone living with it. Whatever your decision, I wish you the best.
Last edited by hb-mod; 03-14-2011 at 12:48 AM.
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I am interested in your experiences with the SCS. I had one implanted 6 weeks ago. I just developed a sunburn-like rash across my back starting at the implant site. Did you have that with your infection? Have you had the 2nd SCS implanted yet?
Thanks.
Last edited by moderator2; 03-17-2011 at 04:53 PM.
I am interested in your experiences with the SCS. I had one implanted 6 weeks ago. I just developed a sunburn-like rash across my back starting at the implant site. Did you have that with your infection? Have you had the 2nd SCS implanted yet?
Thanks.
Yea mine did get that sunburn like rash and inflamed, Mine ended up with staph and I ended up having emergency surgery to have it removed and 3 days in the hospital on antibiotics. But, get it checked right away and make sure. Sometimes they can give you meds to reverse it before your body completely rejects the implant. I am going to get it all reimplanted next month. I've waited a year and going to try again. To me, the risk is worth it. it was certainly helpful to me.
I am interested in your experiences with the SCS. I had one implanted 6 weeks ago. I just developed a sunburn-like rash across my back starting at the implant site. Did you have that with your infection? Have you had the 2nd SCS implanted yet?
Thanks.
Hello! Yes I have had the second implant done about 8 weeks ago now and I am doing well. No infection this time. Of course we did some major infection control. The unit is working very well and is very helpful. I have not taken one narcotic since the install. So for me, this time around, I am doing very well with the pain management. The depression however, I cannot seem to get that in check as of yet. But I am working on that
Re: spinal cord stimulator questions 
Re: spinal cord stimulator questions 
