pdl17

Hello Paul & welcome to the chronic pain forum. Sorry to read about what your wife is dealing with. Sadly, under-treated chronic pain can literally suck the life out of a person.

You said she has been off of pain medications for 9 month & her pain is worse. She apparently did get some benefit of being on pain medication. It really is a personal choice. While pain medications are not prescribed to make us pain free, they can help lower the pain to a more tolerable level. I have been fortunate to have good pain mgt drs & never once was I ever told I would be pain free. It is more about quality of life & being able to function as best as I can. I have been under the care of pain mgt drs since about 1994. A very long time & I am now 65 years old.

Spinal implants has been around for quite a long time now. I am assuming you are talking about the implanted SCS units, similar to a Tens unit, only these are implanted. Patients that do go this route are under the care of a pain mgt dr. Speaking of a Tens unit, has your wife ever tried one? They can really help some people & it would be worth considering if she has not tried one. Physical therapy can try a Tens Unit on her. You mentioned NSAIDS, has she ever been tried on oral Voltaren? If not it may be worth trying. NSAIDS help me too, however, I have crohns disease & they are off the table. I have had too many ulcers from medicating myself against medical advice. Saving my stomach is more important than losing some of it.

There are a lot of threads here about the SCS units. You can use the google search above & type in "chronic pain forum SCS units". This will bring up a lot of older posts. I will caution you, there are many negative stories here about them. Keep in mind, when a person has an issue with one of these units, the dr is out of the picture. He is not trained to handle the unit, a tech from the company is called in to deal with whatever problem comes up. If you have more specific questions about the units, please feel free to ask. Anyone considering one of these implants really needs to investigate diligently. No snap decisions & never let a dr push a patient into getting one.

To my knowledge there are not any specialty centers, hospitals or drs for treatment of back pain. Chronic pain patients are under the care of pain mgt drs that are local to their area or neighboring cities. Unlike, treatment of PCa having specialty drs & centers as an example, CPers do not have that option. The odds of ever having something like this is slim to none because chronic pain is not as accepted as a true medical condition by many. Much of the mentality is take something OTC & get over it. If there was such a place this forum would certainly know about it.

Take care.

Tramadol has just as much addiction risk as other opiods. It can also lead to seratonin syndrome if one is on an anti depressant. While my conditions are not as extreme as your wife's, I use a combination of things...a little advil with a little tramadol and the t.e.n.s. unit, with or without heat. I've recently started taking magnesium and believe it is helping muscle health since the muscles and spine work together...if one has an issue, the other will, too! I've also been 'lucky' enough to figure out what med works best for whichever part hurts...Advil for carpal tunnel, Aleve for hips and shoulders, a combination for my spine, etc. I also do not expect to be 'pain free'. A more manageable level is my goal. I hope your wife finds relief.

Did the mods take a few responses off of this post?
If so, I guess I would like to know why?

Thanks
Paul

Thanks Susie,

I am surprised they removed them. I thought they were appropriate and helpful and wanted my wife to read them.

Thank you for the prompt response.

Paul

Paul, I read a very good article by the Associated Press dated November 26th about medical devices. The headline of the story was about a patient being burned by an SCS unit. However, this article covers many different devices & it was a real eye opener. The shocking part is how the FDA approves devices with little studies to back up the products. If you are interested in reading it, do a google search for it. I immediately thought of you & your wife.

Paul, were you able to locate the article? If not, I will do my best to see if I can post it here.

PDL17:
While I am sorry to read that your wife is still suffering with neurogenic back pain, I am glad to hear that you have taken time to educate yourselves on the SCS and its risk portfolio.

There is no “magic bullet” for treating pain simply because the experience of pain is a deeply complex entity with multiple mediating factors. The central nervous system (brain and spinal cord) is primed by a barrage of input from the peripheral nervous system (sensory nerve fibers and chains of ganglia). The endocrine system also intervenes with the secretion of hormones that affect pain perception (dopamine, seratonin, Adrenalin). Deep brain structures, including the hypocampus, lay down memory circuits of past life events/trauma that influence pain perception. Pain is uniquely unique to each person.

For me, a multi-modal approach to ramping down pain is the best that I have been able to find. A blend of traditional medicine and holistic/integrative approaches. A little of this, a little of that. What does multi-modal look like for me?

I do have availability to prescription narcotics and am grateful for this access and anti-inflammatory medications. I also believe in personal attention to self-care as essential. I practice yoga and/or Pilates daily and maintain a dedication to fitness and core strength despite a body that complains. Fitness can be maintained through gentle, low impact activities. You need not be a sumo wrestler or gym rat. Our bodies are meant to move. I believe in listening to my body, educating myself about my health conditions, and trusting that it tells me what it needs. Nutrition and healthy food choices also weigh in, avoiding processed foods. I am a Whole Foods type of person but admit that I am not overly fond of food as a comfort. I treat myself to NetFlix streaming movies for distraction, Cross word puzzles. Warm buckwheat microwaveable packs. Getting out of the house, if even to a local StarBucks. Pain can easily lend to withdrawing within oneself and isolation.

Pain is an unwelcome companion. AIDS, which once threatened survival, is now a chronic manageable disease because of investment in science. I hope the same in opening avenues for treating pain. That making investments into the science and research of pain will show us a collective pathway forward.
Karen