When many people first start experiencing back pain, they are shocked to discover how common this ailment is.
In fact, there are studies that show that almost a quarter of the adults on the planet deals with chronic pain in their lower back. Not only that, but some experts estimate that over 80% of people will deal with chronic lower back pain at some point in their lives!
Considering how many people suffer from this ailment, any treatment that can alleviate chronic lower back pain can potentially help billions of people. Although there are many different ways to try to improve chronic back pain, many people are excited about neurostimulation in particular.
This method of treatment is achieving excellent success rates for patients. On top of that, the technology for this treatment is continuing to improve. In the future, this may be one of the most common ways to help people enjoy life without chronic lower back pain.
So what is neurostimulation, and what benefits can it provide? Read on to learn all about the advantages of receiving neurostimulation therapy!
Causes of Some Types of Back Pain
To understand why neurostimulation works, it can help to understand what is causing certain kinds of chronic lower back pain. When people have acute injuries, it is obvious to them why they feel pain in their backs. But why do people sometimes experience back pain in a way that seems disconnected from anything else?
Many people start to experience lower back pain while doing things that they are used to doing without feeling pain. However, when people engage in the same activity over and over again, it starts to shape the body. Many more people are spending hours and hours every day sitting at a chair and looking at a computer.
As a result, many people’s bodies are being shaped to fit into this kind of use. That often means relaxing the lower back and allowing it to shorten. As this happens, it also pulls on adjacent areas of the body, creating a propagating wave of tension.
When you think about it this way, it is not so surprising that activities that used to feel fine start to cause pain with enough repetition. In fact, if you are not balancing out one way of using your body with an opposite one, it is predictable that your body may develop tightness and imbalances.
This kind of tightness can it harder for blood to reach some of the tissues in your lower back. That can decrease your sensation of the area as well as your conscious muscular control over it. This is where lower back pain starts to interact more directly with the nervous system.
The nervous system can find it more difficult to reach the lower back as tissues get compressed and closed off. That is why neurostimulation can help reverse these problems.
What Is Spinal Cord Stimulation?
Neurostimulation therapy is also called spinal cord stimulation. This therapy uses simple surgery to implant a special device in the body. This body can then deliver small shocks of electricity to part of the nervous system that interacts with the lower back.
There are a lot of hypotheses about why this works so well to relieve lower back pain. Some people think that the compression of the lower back tissues also starts to compress parts of the nervous system. Neurostimulation can help those parts of the nervous system stay active.
On the other hand, some people think that stimulating the nervous system helps it to reestablish a strong connection with the tight tissues of the lower back. That may reduce tightness in the back.
The Effects on Chronic Back Pain
Regardless of the mechanism, spinal cord stimulation has a proven track record of diminishing lower back pain. At least half of people who receive this treatment report that it helps them find significant relief from their chronic back pain.
So far, it is uncertain if this kind of stimulation of the spinal cord can help to reverse tightness in the lower back. However, many people feel that managing the symptoms is valuable enough to justify the treatment.
Who Can Experience Back Pain Relief?
Somewhere between 50% and 80% of people who receive spinal cord stimulation treatments consider the operation to be a success. But what makes it successful for some people while others do not report benefits?
It is unclear what precisely causes this difference, but there are some factors that seem relevant. For example, people who smoke more or use drugs tend to experience less success with this treatment.
Managing Other Kinds of Back Injuries
Of course, neurostimulation is not the only option for managing chronic lower back pain. You can find quality surgeons who can examine your back and recommend a treatment customized to your own situation.
If your pain is the result of an injury, it may be helpful to find surgeons who are willing to defer payment until after a case settlement.
Enjoy the Benefits of Neurostimulation for Back Pain
Some people struggle with back pain for their whole lives without ever learning about some of the potential treatments that could help them. We hope that learning about the advantages of neurostimulation will help you decide if it is the right option for your own back pain. This treatment might be able to improve your back pain for many years to come!
To learn more about how to find the best surgeons to help you manage your ailments or injuries, reach out and get in touch with us here at any time!