SCS implant pain at site
 

Hey y'all, well i am here seeking some help. I have CRPS Type II, 4 years ago i got a SCS implant in my back, right below the belt line. it worked wonders..all issues stopped. i was happy. Well a year ago the thing stopped working, went to my trusty doc and they found that one of the leads had freyed. so they had to replace the wires, my doctor also felt the need to readjust the actual implant. He moved it down into a new pocket.

Everything was great..the placement of the wires was phenominal..however its been about a year since the adjustment and i keep getting severe pains in the pocket area. its at the very right tip of the generator and goes diagnally down about an inch. It feels like when you get skin zipped in a zipper and you just keep trying to pull the skin out, very annoying pain. It takes several days to actually stop. then it comes back.

the scs still works great no issues there, no changes in the pocket pain when its off or on, i dont knwo what it is.

Has anyone else had something similar.

hi Brea and :welcome_sign: to NeuroTalk.

i'm sure somebody will reply soon. just helping you keep this bumped up.

Hello Brea,

Once those are in - is there anyway to image it?
ultrasound scan, xray or MRI?
- to double check position and such without opening the area?
have you asked dr what might be causing it?

Hey Jo55,

they cannot do heat based imaging on it. All Dr. D does is feel around and push it, which hurts. but I am really hesitant to complain to him too much about it, because the past 2 times they have opened it up, it hurts terribly. so i dont want him to open it, just to find out that there was no need. That is why i was curious if anyone else had experianced this issue.

For as much as this works, which is awsome...the issues and "fixing" surgeries I've had, i dont know if it was worth it. I told my husband that if they have to go in again, i am going to request they take it out. Yes that means all the drugs, the constant fainting, the skin issues..but i dont think i can keep having these fixing surgeries. last time they nicked my epideral sack and i had a spinal headache for 3 weeks. Thats why i dont want to complain to my doc too much..i dont want to actually face the decision of taking it out or not.

Scs Implants
 

HI BREA,
I WONDER IF THE SCS IMPLANTS WOULD HELP ME WHAT ARE THEY?
ARE THEY DANGEROUS SOUNDS LIKE YOU HAVE SOME ISSUES WITH AND
THEM AND PLEASE TELL ME WHAT THE ISSUE WITH THE SKIN WAS? I'M
WRAPPED IN A SHEET CAN NOT WEAR CLOTHES ? SOUNDS LIKE YOU ARE
IN PAIN WITH THIS--NONE OF THE INJECTIONS ARE HELPING ME. PLEASE
LET ME KNOW WHAT YOU FIND OUT.

LOTS OF LUCK
SUSAN:confused:

Susan:

SCS= spinal cord stimulator. its an implant of the Tens unit if you kinda think about it. for me, its in my legs caused by a bad knee cap replacement surgery. i did injections, pills, psycotherapy and everything else. after several years they decided to try the SCS to stop the "bad" nerves (my sympathetic nerve chain) from talking to my brain. so instead of injections they implanted this battery pack and attached wires to my L2-L4 disk. and how the doc explained it, it confuses the nerve chain. Since i got it implanted the pain (sharp stabbing needle pain), the swelling, rashes all went away. i got off the drugs and am pretty happy, except for this pain in my butt. ;-)

I could not put any clothing on that brushed against my skin on the inside of my leg (legs once it spread). so i had to wear a Knee sleave and nylons all the time, so my pants wouldnt brush against the skin which would cause the skin to basically eat itself and terrible pain. i still get rashes every now and then, but nothing to the extent it used to. i am not a genious when i comes to nerves, so explaining why this helped, i dont know. but i did try the external stimulater and it didnt work, but once they attached it inside onto the nerve chain, it was magic.

I feel for you, and just remember to smile everynow and then. you may want to ask about the SCS, I was getting injections into the spinal cord and onto my knee for about 2 1/2 years 2 times a week, so not having to do that is great. Keep your chin up.