How Spinal Cord Stimulation Works to Manage Pain

The National Center for Health Statistics, a unit of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), reports that 39% of American adults suffered back pain in 2019. Back pain affects most people at some point in their lives, even if it’s short-lived due to overexertion. 

Chronic back pain can be a difficult issue to treat, particularly when symptoms persist long after an injury heals. The nervous system and spinal cord are complex structures that can sometimes behave in unusual and unexpected ways. 

Managing back pain often requires multifaceted treatment from an expert in the field. Dr. James A. Nassiri and the team at Westside Pain Specialists have the experience and practical knowledge you need when you have persistent back pain. 

Spinal cord stimulation (SCS) is an approach to pain management that provides targeted relief when chronic or persistent back pain resists other forms of therapy. Today, we’ll look at how spinal cord stimulation works to manage pain. 

Your body’s electrical system

Nerves work through the transmission of tiny bioelectrical signals. This means that muscle movement, autonomic functions, and sensory signals all depend on the ability of nerves to conduct electricity. 

Pain is therefore generated by an electrical signal moving from the source of the problem to the brain, where it’s interpreted as the pain you feel. Nerve tissue sometimes sends pain signals when there’s no reason, and chronic back pain sometimes takes this form. 

Scrambling the signals

By using anesthetic nerve block injections, we can identify the nerve that’s sending pain signals to the brain. When we hit a targeted nerve, pain disappears, at least until the anesthetic wears off. 

This is all we need to confirm the source of pain. We can then move forward with a system to scramble the pain signals electronically with a spinal cord stimulator. 

How SCS works

Those who are familiar with the concept of a heart pacemaker may have an idea of how an SCS system works. The components are similar, though dedicated to their respective tasks. 

An SCS system generally has three components: the probes that deliver an electrical signal to the nerve, an implanted electrical generator, and an external remote control for the system. Over 30,000 people undergo SCS implants annually. 

There’s usually a trial period where you’re fitted with a temporary system to confirm that SCS works for you before the internal system components are permanently implanted. SCS feeds low-level electrical signals to the target nerve. 

A good way to describe the effect of SCS is to imagine you’re having a conversation in a quiet room, then someone turns on a television or stereo. This additional noise level drowns out the conversation, making it difficult to understand. 

Fortunately, an SCS signal modulates in a way that’s not as annoying as these loud devices. Instead, SCS overshadows the pain signals. Sometimes you can sense numbness or tingling from the SCS, a sensation called paresthesia, though many systems now offer stimulation that can’t be felt. 

Learn more about the benefits of SCS for pain management with a consultation at the nearest location of Westside Pain Specialists. Call our Beverly Hills or Rancho Cucamonga, California, location to schedule your visit today.