I know you mentioned that your doctor has recommended trying the neurostimulator for your pain. In a reply to your previous post, I mentioned a little about the stimulator. One thing to keep in mind is that the placement of the stimulator leads is very IMPORTANT. I had 2 trial stimulators before the permanent one. During the first trial stimulator, the doctor put the leads too far up the back of my head. During the 2nd stimulator trial, the doctor put the leads in my neck below the base of my skull. After the placement of the permanent neurostimulator, I had to go back to the doctor's office a couple of times to work with the technician so she could move the stimulator pulses around on the leads so the pulses would be in the exact spot that I needed them. The stimulator is a wonderful machine; however, if it's not "dialed" in to pulse exactly on the nerve or where you have the most pain, it won't work very well. Because the machine is so complex, you can control the speed of the pulses, how wide of an area on the lead that it pulses, and the number of pulses per second that the machine stimulates the nerve. I know it sounds complicated, but once you work with the technician and the device, it gets easy.

After I had the surgery for the permanent neurostimulator implant, I was pretty sore for a while. The stimulator leads were placed under the base of my skull sort of in the neck muscle area. The permanent stimulator runs on a batter which, in my case, was placed on my right side. A wire runs from the lead to the battery and I had a small incision near my shoulder blade so the doctor could guide the wire connecting the lead and the batter. My description probably sounds worse than it actually is. I had a small incision in my neck where the leads were placed, a small incision near my shoulder blade for the connector wire, and then about a 2 inch incision in my right side for the battery.

After the surgery, I couldn't turn the stimulator on right away because I needed to wait for the swelling to go down. I wasn't allowed to lift anything heavier than a gallon of milk for the first month to give all the incisions time to heal (not that I do a lot of heavy lifting anyway). I also had to wait 6 weeks before getting a massage so everything could heal properly as well.

If you are considering getting the stimulator, make sure you insist getting the stimulator TRIAL session first. I'm not trying to sound like a know it all, but I want anyone who reads this to understand the difference. During the trial session, only the stimulator leads are placed in the area where the pain is. Nothing else gets implanted. The trial stimulator will stay in place about 7 days. It will be sort of odd because a small wire will come out of the skin and is attached to an external battery pack. During this time, you can try out all the different settings on the device to see if you get any relief. Obviously, 7 days isn't that long; however, if you get even minimal relief, keep in mind that with the permanent implant, you will get more relief because you will have it for several years. If you doctor wants to implant the permanent neurostimulator right off the bat without doing the trial session first, I would not do that. If I were you, I would DEMAND the trial session first. You do not want to go through a major surgery, have a bunch of stuff put in you, and then find out it doesn't work.

Keep in mind that the stimulator has metal parts. If I go through a metal detector, I will set it off. Because of this, I have a card that I received from Medtronics (the company that made my stimulator) which I present anytime I'm flying somewhere. People who have artificial hips and knees this as well. I am glad I went ahead and had the permanent one implanted because it has helped. I just hope that the trigeminal nerve pain will eventually go away now that the ON pain is getting better.