TENS units and Spinal Cord Stimulators

[BusyGrl]

Has anyone who has tried TENS units and not liked them had success with Spinal Cord Stimulators (SCS)?

My current pain manager is suggesting that I try it. I told him I didn't like TENS units and he said it's not the same and is not an indicator of whether the SCS would work for me.

The problem I have with TENS units is they annoy me at best and cause me more pain in the worst case.

I have read several posts about SCS and I wonder whether it's worth starting down that path at all.

[bigspring]

I had one put in and within a week my body rejected it and had to have emergency surgery during Christmas

[Baileygirl23]

Thanks for letting me know that I posted reply to old note.  Guess I was soo excited that I didn't even look at the date DUH!! LOL), guess I will have to be more careful in the future....I really debated about posting anyway as the scs has not seemed to work for A LOT of other people and they are STILL going through HELL w/the pain, but I wanted to share w/someone about it, but on the other hand felt kinda quilty and didn't want to upset anyone either.   Of course since it was removed, I'm right back where I was before the trial as far as the pain factor goes, AWE the bitter sweet of things.........
THANKS AGAIN, AND HAVE A GREAT DAY!!!!

Thanks for reading my note anyways and letting me know about the date.

[bev62]

I had my SCS trial on last Thursday. It was in my crevical area, which is the hardest place to put them in due to the limited space.  As soon as I got up off the table the right lead moved positions. They had to redo it twice before finally getting it in the right position. It was so painful I thought I was going to pass out. By the next day the right lead has moved again and I'm wasn't feeling the stimulator at all on that side. I met with the rep and he said that my space is so narrow due to having a 2 level cervical fusion that they aren't going to be able to make this work. The feeling of the stimulator was very distracting and didn't seem to be helping with my pain on the left side.
It did feel a lot like a Tens unit like you were afraid of.  The great thing about it is that you do go thru a trial first to see if it does help you.
Good luck

[namnam46]

HI Bailey,

I wanted to let you know that this is an "old" Thread and that BusyGrl hasn't posted since 2009.  :)

Thanks for caring and wanting to help her!!  :)  You will have a LOT of really great experiences to share with ALL of us members here at MH.   You have made your experience seem as if WE can ALL share your trial with you.  Nice post - sorry that she's not here anymore.  ...........Sherry  :)

[Baileygirl23]

Busy Girl,


In reply to your question about the SCS.  I just completed the Trial today (had it in for 7days) and had lead wire removed which I didn't want to give up.  I got about 85-90% pain relief and I'm being scheduled to have the permanent one implanted.  The worst part was having to have my back taped up and w/the heat here in TX (about 100 degrees everyday) was the itching, cause no air could get to it nor could I shower (had to take sponge baths - YUCK - LOL)  The Tens unit is a totally different feeling I think.  Yes I did have the tingling in my leg, but it felt different than a tens unit and you don't have to crank it up really high like you do a tens.  It's totally up to you, but I would at lease maybe think about trying the trial to see if you like it and if it helps your pain any - I mean what to you have to lose - the worst thing would be that it dosen't work for you.  I didn't want to give my trial one up, cause as soon as the lead wire was removed I was right back to the same old pain that I was in before and I HATED having the pain back.  I will keep you posted and let you know when I'm scheduled to have the permanent one implanted.......Best of luck to ya.  Please let me know what you decide to do - OK
Baileygirl 23

[Nonna1109]

If the tingle sensation of the TENS unit is what you did not like then I want you to know that you get the tingle sensation with the SCS.  In my case the TENS unit was so much better for me (hindsight) because the tingle sensation was ONLY WHERE I PUT THE PADS.  With the SCS there is no guarantee where you are going to get the tingle sensation.

In my case, I needed it in my lower back around the L5/S1.  Well with the SCS I get the tingle in both my legs, my ribs (both sides) and in my belly.  NOTHING at all in my back.,  

My rep says he thinks it is due to improper lead placement - only way to fix it is to go back in and put in more leads and HOPE they get the right spot. No way - if I decide to go back in, it will be to have it taken out completely.  And with the battery implanted in my hip, I can no longer use my TENS unit and I am now on stronger pain meds and stronger muscle relaxers.  

SCS has helped me none at all.  If you are having sciatic nerve pain, I have found a miracle medicine for that (for me anyway).  It is called neurontin (generic is gabapentin) and it works wonders for sciatic nerve pain.

[BusyGrl]

Thanks for clarifying. I think I have a better idea now. Maybe it's worth trying, but I'm still going to ask a lot of questions since I HATED the TENS unit.

The souce of my pain is one or more compressed nerves. Ideally, someone would find the problem and FIX it, but I suppose that is asking too much.

[HawktheSlayer]

Hi,

  Sorry about any confusion that I made. Here is what I mean. When I used the TEN unit I had to have it up very high for it to feel like it was helping and with it being so high it almost hurt feeling like some thing was poking hard at the site where the patches where.

I like the SCS unit due to the fact that even havinng it on very low and changing the pulse rate it sometimes can feel like its massaging my legs. And that is what you will be able to find out for yourself if you decide to have the trial unit done. I have also heard of ppl that had a bad experance with their unit and I felt the same way you do right now. That if I didnot like the TENS unit then the SCS unit would be the same, and after reading about ppl that had problems I was also scared that it would happen to me, but again it was either SCS unit or Fusion to try and help with my pain.

I know that the non-rechargeable battery has some advantages to it but again I have heard bad stoires about both and when I talked to the Rep from medtronics he told me that the rechargeable was better for me due to how high and how long I use it everyday.

In a nutshell he said that ppl that use the unit alot (24hrs for me) that the NON-rechargeable battery would not last as long due to the high usage. If you have the trail done and find out that you only need to have the unit on for a short time and or at a low level that the NON-rechargeable one would be the better way to go. But if you use it alot or at a high level that the rechargeable one is a better fit. ALSO they made very good improvements to the rechargeable units.

To answer your question "YES" you can soke in a tub you can even go into a hot tub after you heal. I would still make sure to ask your Dr if its ok, but mine told me it was fine.

also after the installation of the unit I was out for about 3months to make sure that everything was ok with the surgery and the unit working properly. I know that I will have to have fusion it will be over a year (this is what my Dr told me) before I can try and get back to a totally normal life style.

I hope this helps you in making a chioce but I would suggest that you have the SCS trial so you can see what it feels like and if you can live with that feeling.

Please let me know if you need any more information or if some thing is not clear.


R/
Adam

[BusyGrl]

Thanks for your response. I suppose I can research most of my questions, but I have a few for you.

What were the differences you noticed between the TENS unit and the SCS unit beyond needing to turn up the TENS to get it to work right. (Is that what you wrote? I wasn't sure if you meant the TENS unit or the trial SCS.) It seems to me that if I don't like the TENS, I won't like the SCS. Can you explain why that wouldn't necessarily be so?

I read on the forum that some people say the non-rechargeable battery is the way to go. What do you think about that?

And can you soak in the tub after you heal from the installation? How invasive is the surgery to install the thing?

I'm glad it is working for you and at least one other person on the forum. I did read through many old postings and saw mixed results. It is enough to make me very cautious around this potential solution, but I'm trying very hard to exclude opiates from my pain management plan for now so I'll probably try about anything that's not too invasive.

Thanks again.

[HawktheSlayer]

Hi, I have an SCS unit installed and for me I can live with the feeling it constantly sends to my legs. The external tens unit is a different thing to me it worked some but I have to turn it up really high to get the feelings. They will do a trial run of the SCS unit before they try a real install. This takes about 1-2 hrs to be put in. It is just a wire put in your back with the controller and battery pack external. This will let them and you know if the SCS unit will work for you. For me it was working well then I messed my back up again,  so now I need fusion to try and get rid of the pain. But a friend here on the forum is getting 90% pain releife so it can really help if you can live with the feeling it gives you and again the Tens unit is very different to the SCS unit. Hope this helps and please feel free to ask any questions that you might have.


R/
Adam