Hurt at work / Spinal cord stimulator

[AQA]

I saw the question you asked on another thread. I did not what the take away from the subjest of that thread so I started this one.

I had a spinal cord stimulator implanted this past December. What would you like to know about it??

[lfoster21]

Hi, is yours an inplanted stimulator? How long have you had it and have you had any problems with it. Also, what was the recovery time and pain like? Was yours done in a Drs. office or in the hospital?

Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated.

[AQA]

lfoster21, good morning. As far as your questions go.
1) Yes, mine is implanted. The generator and the lead are in my body. The leads are stiched to mucsels in my back. None of it is exposed. I used the word generator, that is the part that I turn off and on via a remote control. The generator priodicaly needs to be recharged. The charger comes with the stimulator.
2) I have had mine since December of last year.
3) Recovery time and pain. I honestly can not answere that. We are all differnt. When I had my fusion and was released from the hospital, That evening I walked down to a friends house and talked for about an hour before I walked back home. My wife was pissed.
4) My pm doctor had another office. That is where the procedure was done. I showed up at 7:00 am, was put to sleep at 8:00 am, Woke up at 9:15 am, and was released at 10:00 am.
If you have more questions, please ask.

Take Care.

[East]

Interesting,i have no idea how this spinal stimulator looks like is it something like TENS unit?
Can it be used without inplanting in body?

[Manley2]

My wife and I both have implanted SCS. For me I got it a year ago in Aug. Was done in a surgery room and took about an hour to do. Left hospital a few hours after that. The rest of that day wasn't too bad with my hip area hurting the worst. I'm sure everybody is differant but it was a pain for a few months. For me the area where the leads were in my back hurt the most for the longest time. My doctor said it takes around a year before the leads will stay in place and they don't like you to do much bending or twisting for 6 to 8 months. For me now the area on my hip where the generator unit is gives me some trouble if I sit the wrong way or bump it wrong but thats not too bad. They say the leads should last a long time but the unit needs replaced around every 9 years depending on use. With mine we have talked about it and I think its going to need to be replaced sooner then the 9 years because of how much it gets used but who knows for sure.
And yes I believe they have ones that can stay on the outside of your body for the main unit but I would think they would be a big pain.

[Still in Limbo]

I was Offered a Test Drive with a SCS, and They were going to Temporarily Place the Leads, and leave the Unit on the Outside, and if it Worked, then the Actual Implant would of been done. But when We started Discussing My Heavy Scar Tissue Growth, it became an Issue, it may Never cause Scar Tissue, but if it did, it would Only Add to My Problems. So the Decision was Made that as Long as I can be kept as Comfortable as Possible with Meds., and My Body Holds up Well, and My Liver/Kidneys stay Strong, We are going to Stay as is. I have Heard of Many that the SCS has Helped, and You May want to Speak to Your Dr. and See if a Trial is available. My Very Best to You!!

[chrischris]

This is probably a stupid question, but I need to know how a SCS will effect water exercising. I'm exercise intolerant and haven't been happier since I discovered aqua therapy. My PM doc wants a report stating my depression is under control before he proceeds to a trial SCS, but says that is the way to go.

Also AQA, I have RSD in ULE and LLE. Can one SCS have leads to different areas? It would also be used to control cervical radiculopathy. And......I don't really don't want more than one SCS.

Thanks for the information.

[AQA]

CC, you will be having a little down time from the water exercising. During the trial period, you will be advised to stay out of the pool, shower, and tub. That will probanly last a week to seven days.

After the implant, you will also have some down time while your body heals. After that, you should have no problems with water exercises.

As far as having one SCS to cover different areas. I will guess yes. I say that because I really don't know. What I do know is that I have seen newer models of the SCS with more that just two wire hook ups. In my case, mine has two wire hook ups and a wire (lead) is to the right and left of the T4-T5 area of the spine. Even though that is were they are in my back, they control my lower back and both legs.

A little bit of advice. If you, your dr, and wc aprove the scs. When the final is done, tell the rep. that you want full control of the controller. My controller has four programs, those were set up by me and the rep.. I can turn it on, off, and adjust the strength of the SCS, but with full controll I can also controll the band/pulse with. meaning I can make it feel like a slow tap or fast tap. I do find it benifical.

Take Care.

[Manley2]

The only think I can add is like I said you still need to limit some movements for a time afterwards until the leads heal in place so they don't move any more. Getting a pool would only be out until the skin heals which would be a few weeks. And this is with one that is fully implanted.
I have full control over mine and yes you can do allot with them. Not sure but I think you can only have two leads off the unit but they have several models of leads so for several areas I'm thinking you might need more then one unit. But I'm not sure. Again I wish you luck in getting all the help you need. Forgot I don't think they would ever implant one without a trial which means they run the leads from the outside and the unit is outside, this runs anywhere from 3 to 7 days

[Cervical_Fusion]

I to have a SCS I was told mine was the cadillac version. I only have one lead. But to have only one lead they had to do a lamintomeny ? not sure if spelled correctly. The lead has a paddle on the end of it and they had to make room around my spine for it by removing some bone. I run mine 24/7.