46 | HealthLinksSC.com In both procedures, a tiny incision is made to place electrodes just under the skin next to the spinal cord or to the specific nerve being treated. Patients are given a remote control that allows them to release electrical pulses into the affected area to disrupt the transmission of pain messages to the brain. Sometimes pain persists because the body had been damaged and medical treatment has not been able to totally repair the problem. In other situations, the body has fully recovered, but the pain message to and from the brain is so established, it travels along its neural pathway even after the danger is long past, causing the patient to continue to hurt. Canceling its assignment is not easily accomplished. “Identifying the exact root cause of the pain can be very difficult,” reported Dr. Gardner. “These stimulators are not shortterm fixes. Our 80% success rate is the result of using all the information available, doing preliminary testing and expecting some trial and error. There will always be patients who need pain medications, but technology is helping us move away from opioid use by focusing on pain intervention.” Daniel Nemeth, M.D., an interventional spine specialist and owner of Signe Spine & Rehab LLC in Mount Pleasant, arrived in South Carolina from Chicago in 2014. He too chose a profession that would allow him to help people overcome debilitating, life-altering pain. “In addition to advancements with spinal cord and peripheral nerve stimulators, there are also many new minimally invasive techniques for painful conditions,” he reported. “The MILD lumbar decompressive procedure and spinous process fusion devices such as the Minuteman can help patients with pain in their legs or at the back of their spine. Also, endoscopic spinal
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MjcyNTM1