I have had 2 scs surgeries both causing 90 to 100 day flare ups. I will never ever forget how much pain the scs surgery and programming had caused me for the rest of my life. they never worked. during the trial i might of achieved 10% reduction in pain at most. my doc would not give me a pain pump without trying the scs first. the dr.'s get a nice bonus check for every scs they put in from the company they use. Advanced Bionics,ANS,and Medtronics compete against each other for business. I had advanced bionics put in twice. i have had several opinions since then and the pain docs say advanced bionics is their first choice and medtronics is awful(at least for the last 8 years or so) but they love medtronics pain pumps(this might be cuz its the only programmable pain pump made on the planet).

as of 2009, the new standard during a trial is 75% pain relief or you dont get the scs put in. it used to be 50% pain relief. about 50% of scs's are not being used after one year of use because it doesnt help them anymore. i think that is why they want 75% pain relief now.

i know very few people that scs's worked on but for them it allowed them to keep working or go back to work so it was worth it for them.

i am currently in trial for pain pump. if this works, i will get the scs taken out because the surgeon did not put the generator in deep enough so i battle sores from the generator trying to poke out of my skin.