It may sound a bit unnerving- using electrical pulses to beat back pain.

“If you think about the nervous system as wires, there’s electrical signal that transmits pain and by interrupting that electrical signal with electrical impulses in the spinal cord, you can interrupt that pain pattern,” says Dr. Richard Hood, who is a pain management specialist on medical staff of Lee Memorial Health System.

Spinal cord stimulation is a standard treatment for patients with chronic pain who have not found pain relief from other treatments. While it doesn’t work for everyone, most patients report up to a 70% reduction in pain.

“It’s almost like a pacemaker, it’s an electronic pacemaker that’s placed in the spine, in the lower back and the wires are put underneath the skin,” says Dr. Hood.

Before fully committing, patients get to test drive this system. It begins with identifying the troubled nerves. Once that’s done, wires attach to an external stimulator, allowing them to see to see if it provides relief.

“And if they do and they love this system, then you take it out and then after the course of two weeks or so you can put a permanent one in,” says Dr. Hood.

Patients also have control over the stimulator, using a hand-held remote they determine the intensity of electrical pulses.

“That’s what’s nice about this system. When you are not having as much pain you can turn it down or turn it off,” says Dr. Hood.

Unlike surgery which you can’t roll back, or pain meds which may become problematic; It’s easy to see why spinal cord stimulation is generating quite a buzz.

View More Health Matters video segments at leememorial.org/healthmatters/

Lee Memorial Health System in Fort Myers, FL is the largest network of medical care facilities in Southwest Florida and is highly respected for its expertise, innovation and quality of care. For nearly a century, we’ve been providing our community with everything from primary care treatment to highly specialized care services and robotic assisted surgeries.

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