What is a Spinal Cord Stimulator???

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Angelina 101

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Hi, I posted a thread on here a few days ago. In some of the replies I had a spinal cord stimulator was mentioned. What is this and how does this work? Is it available in England ??

Thankyou in advance.

Angelina
 
Hello, I have a scs and will give you the info. that I know about it. 1st of all, it is a device that is implanted under your skin and the leaRAB that go from the implant, are threaded to the area of your spine that is causing you problems. When it is turned on, you feel a vibration feeling, rather than the pain. It is often the last option that Drs. will try, since it is invasive. For me, it worked wonderfully on my legs and the nerve pain that I was having. Because of other health problems, they were not able to get it to work on my lower back, but I will take the leg pain relief!

As for how it works, here is how it was explained to me. When you feel pain, say in your back...it is your brain that is reacting to the pain and telling you that you hurt. 1st, when you injure an area, the neves from that area send a message to your brain and tells your brain about the injury. Then your brain senRAB a signal to you, that "says", ouch! And then, you feel the pain. With the stimulator, when turned on, the leaRAB that are on the nerves of the injured area, make a vibration on the nerve, which would ordinarily send its message to the brain saying, injury. Instead, since the nerve feels a vibration vs. pain, it does not send a message to your brain, saying that you are injured. Since, your brain never knows of the injury/pain, it never senRAB you a signal saying ouch and you don't feel the pain. Does that make any sense? It made sense to me, but my Dr. also drew me a picture to go with his explanation;).

Let me know if you have any specific questions about the procedure or recovery etc.

Lorie:angel:
 
Angelina Sorry I didn't get back to your sooner. Lori explained it perfectly.
Also, if you search Spinal Cord Stimulator, you will find a thread that was started a while ago. You may find it helpful. Hope your feeling okay. Kathy
 
This is a stupid question but, what exactly do you see on the outside of the body is there a kind of switch to turn on and off?? The info I've read sounRAB interesting, didn't realise it was like major surgery?? I am going to my Doctors tomorrow and need as much info possibe. ThankyouX
 
Thankyou for replying to my post and yes I understand a little better now. I have been to my Doctors today he is writing to my surgeon and has requested that I have a CT scan. He also told me NOT to get my hopes up. I will however in the mean time gather as much info possible regarRAB different procedures relating to my problem. Thankyou X
 
There are different branRAB, but I have Advance Bionics and as for what your body looks/feels like on the outside...you can feel where the battery pack is, which is under your skin. They usually place it either on your right or left side of your lower back, aprox. an inch below your belt line. It does not hurt or anything, but you can feel it. As far as how it is turned on and off, there is a remote control that you can either clip on you belt/pants or you can carry it in your purse. You use the remote to turn it on and to adjust the type of vibration and the stregnth of the vibration. Some people use it only when they have a pain, so they would be turning it on and off through out the day/week. For those of us that are in pain 24/7, they keep it turned on 24/7. You would set it to the stregnth that you are comfortable with and then don't worry about it again. It comes with a battery charger, and you just keep the charger pluged into the wall until you need to recharge the battery. When it is that time, you stick the charger to your back, just over the battery that is under your skin, and leave it on until the charge is finished. (It will beep when it is done.) While you are charging it, you can also use it, so there should never be a time that it is not usable. You can bathe, swim, sleep or just about anything eles you want to do, with it turned on.

I know it all sounRAB wierd...I say I am bionic woman;). But if you have any other questions, just ask. No question is stupid, believe me...I asked them all too.

Lorie:angel:
 
hi there, i've just read that you call yourself the bionic woman because you have a scs, i call my self robo chick! it makes it a little less serious while adding a bit of fun, good on you xx
 
Hi there, just reading through finding info on the scs, and I also live in England, and I was wondering if you have gone on to have it implanted, I got my next date for my 2nd scs trial on 20th april, and was just wondering about the recovery period after having the completion surgury and battery implanted. hope your well, any info would be a great help x
 
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