sillysuzie2

My son had a spinal column stimulator (SCS) put in.  The trial worked very well and reduced his pain from an '8' to a '2'.  He was very excited and had the permanent one put in.  It never worked.  In fact it made his pain worse.  He went through a tremendous amount of pain in his buttock where they created a pocket to put in the control pack and it all came to nothing - he had it all removed about a year later.  He now has a different pain management doctor at the same hospital and she is VERY surprised that the first doctor just took the SCS out without trying to move the leads etc.  She said a tiny change in the position of the leads can make a huge diffrence.  She thinks the SCS is the best solution for RSD and is trying to persuade my son to try it again but it was all too painful for him to go through again. 

We met someone whose life was changed by having a SCS - she was able to use her arms as normal the only thing was that she sometimes got an electric shock when she touched another person.  There have also been many accounts on this list serve of successful SCS's. I think it is worth trying bc my son's experience was very unusual.  Usually, if the trial works, then the permanent one does too.  The trial is not very painful and it will give you an idea of what a permanent SCS would do for you.  Linda