When our bodies feel good, it’s easy to enjoy life. We can run, walk, sit, stand, exercise and drive a car without much effort or thought. We can also sleep easily; in any positions we favor. Cooking a meal, standing in line, cleaning the house, might include everyday chores, but they’re not physically debilitating. For people who suffer from chronic back and leg pain, none of this is true. Their pain permeates their lives and affects everything they do, limiting their daily activities and making it challenging to work.
Unfortunately, people who suffer from chronic back pain often turn to spine surgery for pain relief without first giving less-invasive, long-term pain-relief options a try—despite the fact that only five percent of those who suffer from back pain actually require surgery. More often than not, spinal surgery doesn’t alleviate a patient’s pain but causes additional painful conditions such as decreased back motion, diminished activity levels or chronic muscle spasms.
High frequency therapy to the rescue
“Neuromodulation” is a class of therapies that involves direct stimulation of the nervous system with electrical signals to treat unmanageable chronic pain or movement disorders. By applying electrical pulses to the source of the pain, traditional spinal cord stimulation (SCS) creates a pleasant sensation that blocks the brain’s ability to sense the previously perceived pain. Approved by the FDA in 1989, SCS has become a standard treatment for patients with chronic pain in their back and legs who have not found relief from other treatments. Patients who qualify for traditional SCS report a 50 to 70 percent reduction in overall pain as well as an increased ability to participate in normal family and work activities.
NEW, state of the art HF10™ therapy
The innovative HF10™ therapy spinal cord stimulation (SCS) system is an implanted, rechargeable treatment approach that has been proven to reduce chronic pain in the back and legs without producing the tingling, burning or pricking sensation—called paresthesia—that is generally associated with traditional spinal cord stimulation. The Senza® system delivers Nevro’s proprietary HF10™ therapy, which provides 10 kHz high-frequency stimulation and low-stimulation amplitudes for a paresthesia-free experience. The result: 8 out of 10 patients who try HF10™ therapy have significant relief of back and leg pain.
The Senza® device is small and easy to implant during a simple, outpatient surgical procedure. The device’s battery must be charged every day and the charging process takes just 20 to 40 minutes. Unlike intrathecal pumps—another treatment for back pain—HF10™ therapy does not require medication or maintenance. In addition, HF10™ therapy is FDA-approved for driving, whereas other stimulators are not.
PMIR gives its thumbs up
“From experience, this is the most profound medical treatment that will finally help treat back pain without requiring long term recovery and possible progression of the degenerative complications associated with the most common back surgeries,” says Alexander P. Hersel, M.D. Pain Management and Injury Relief (PMIR) Medical Center, is the first practice in Conejo Valley to use HF10™ therapy. “In my opinion, this is going to change the way we’re able to help people who have exhausted other options for their pain,” says Bradley Spiegel, M.D.
PMIR Medical Center focuses on breaking the cycle of pain by targeting pain pathways, improving patients’ physical well-being and helping transform perspectives on pain. We offer a full range of interventional treatment options that can be tailored to the specific needs of each patient.
If you’d like to learn more about HF10™ therapy or other options for addressing your chronic back and leg pain, call Pain Management and Injury Relief at (877) 724-6349 to make an appointment today.
REFERENCES:
https://report.nih.gov/nihfactsheets/ViewFactSheet.aspx?csid=57
http://www.spine-health.com/treatment/back-surgery/spinal-cord-stimulation-chronic-pain
http://www.nevro.com/English/Home/default.aspx
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