FAQs Archive - Page 4 of 4 - Essential Sports & Spine Solutions

Q: Why would I need a spinal cord stimulator?

You might benefit from having a spinal cord stimulator if you experience treatment-resistant chronic pain in your back or neck or pain in your arms or legs that originates in your spine. In addition, the FDA recently approved the Nevro HFX™ for PDN spinal cord stimulator for diabetic peripheral neuropathy, a painful nerve condition that affects the feet and hands. While there are many potential treatments for chronic neuromusculoskeletal pain, and most people find these highly effective, a few patients don't experience any improvement. When advanced methods like radiofrequency ablation or surgery aren't achieving results, Dr. Verma may suggest a spinal cord stimulator trial.

Q: What is a spinal cord stimulator?

A spinal cord stimulator is a device that uses electrical impulses to scramble the pain signals in your spine. That means your brain no longer receives pain messages but instead feels a mild tingling or an absence of pain. Dr. Verma of Essential Sports and Spine Solutions performs a minimally invasive procedure to implant the spinal cord stimulator's battery-powered generator into your body and insert the electrical wires in the epidural space surrounding your spine. You use a remote control to adjust the intensity of the electrical impulses to allow for fluctuations in your pain. Before full implantation, Dr. Verma fits a trial spinal cord stimulator that you use for 7-10 days, so you can make sure the treatment works for you.

Q: How is back pain treated?

Dr. Verma uses a combination of treatments to address back pain, which might include: Exercise therapy Massage therapy Physical therapy Pain journals Educational pain resources Trigger point injections Platelet-rich plasma (PRP) injections Epidural steroid injections Nerve blocks Medical marijuana Typically, the least invasive methods are all most patients need. However, if your back pain persists, Dr. Verma offers a range of advanced interventional treatments that can help. Some of these include: Radiofrequency ablation Radiofrequency ablation uses heat to damage the nerve endings in your back so they can't send pain signals to your brain. CornerLoc™ SI Joint Stabilization System CornerLoc helps to stabilize painful sacroiliac joints and encourages the fusion process. Stryker's iVAS Elite balloon kyphoplasty system Kyphoplasty is an advanced treatment for vertebral compression fractures that raises the height of the vertebra and stabilizes it with bone cement. Spinal cord stimulators Spinal cord stimulation involves having a small device implanted under your skin. The device sends electric pulses to the nerves in your spine, changing pain signals into tingling sensations or switching them off altogether. Spinal Simplicity’s Minuteman Minuteman is an interspinous-interlaminar device that helps with spinal fusion. To find out what's causing your back pain and receive the right treatment, call Essential Sports and Spine Solutions or request an appointment online today.

Q: Do I need to see a doctor about back pain?

If your back pain isn't too severe or has only just started, you might feel tempted to see if it resolves itself without treatment. While some minor injuries like mild muscle strains often heal quickly with rest, anything more than that would benefit from a visit to Essential Sports and Spine Solutions. Back pain treatments are most effective if you have an accurate diagnosis. Dr. Verma can identify the likeliest cause of your back pain and help alleviate it using effective pain management techniques.

Q: What are the causes of back pain?

There are many ways in which you could damage the tissues in your back and develop pain as a result. Acute back pain is often due to sudden trauma that stretches or tears the muscles, connective tissues, or discs in your back. For example, falls, carrying excessive loads, moving awkwardly, incurring a sports injury, and being in a work or auto accident. Chronic back pain is typically due to normal degenerative changes that occur as you get older. These include: Herniated or bulging discs Spinal stenosis Facet joint arthritis Degenerative disc disease Spondylosis Spondylolisthesis Vertebral compression fractures With these conditions, the bones and discs gradually deteriorate over time, and the structures within your back may change as a result. For example, you might develop bone spurs if you have osteoarthritis in your spine, or ligaments might thicken and narrow the spinal canal, a common cause of spinal stenosis. Overuse can make these conditions worse and causes inflammation that's often responsible for a nagging backache.