Pain Relief by Electrical Stimulation

	Visit New Clinic: www.olympiapsp.co.uk Tel 07852 712115

PAIN RELIEF BY ELECTRICAL STIMULATION

This includes acupuncture, electroacupuncture, transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS) and spinal cord stimulation.

All of these will give pain relief but not all will work for everyone they are tried. All are directed at interrupting the pain signal in the spinal cord. The theory basically is that there is a nerve gate which can be closed so preventing the brain form receiving the painful signal. This gate is closed by stimulation of certain nerves which normally remain inactive until the electrical signal from the TENS machine etc. is propagated. The most basic level of this gate closing phenomenon is with massage which is used to relax the body and reduce pain.

Acupuncture involves putting very fine needles into muscular trigger points to ‘break up’ the spasm. Traditional Chinese acupuncture is used for many maladies as well as pain and areas far from painful points may be needled.

TENS uses gel-covered pads attached to a box from which a current is emitted. The pads are placed over the painful area. The current can be high or low frequency and its strength can also be altered using dials. If TENS does work for a patient then they often find that the longer it is used the greater the effect (at least 2 hours each day).

Spinal cord stimulation is an invasive technique.
It is often used where all else has failed as far as pain treatment is concerned. The only area where it has proven effectiveness is the treatment of angina pain which is secondary to a poor blood supply to the heart.

There are people with pain which is not angina and in whom all else has failed to help them adequately. Specifically patients with neuropathic pain from a phantom limb or traumatic nerve damage, in patients where the blood supply to a limb is inadequate but an operation is not possible, arachnoiditis and CRPS 1 and 2 which have not responded to other treatments.

Some enthusiasts will also use spinal cord stimulation on patients who have chronic back pain resulting from multiple surgical procedures.

Whatever reason is given, undertaking this technique involves a tremendous amount of interaction between a pain clinic and the patient. If an initial temporary trial is successful, insertion of a permanent stimulator requires a multidisciplinary hospital team to do so and to look after it afterwards as the patient and the pain clinic become very dependent on each other. This is why only certain pain clinics in the UK will undertake this work.


Low Back Pain "When the pain is primarily from the back then it may be either confined to that area or associated with pain in the legs, groin or abdomen or even further up the back even as far as the neck, shoulders and head"... more >>	Fibromyalgia "Fibromyalgia syndrome affects about 3% of the female population and 1% of the male population. Patients have often spent many years looking for a cause for their pain with multiple investigations revealing no organic abnormalities" ... more >>	Complex Regional Pain Syndrome (CRPS) "This is a common condition and describes a group of symptoms occurring together in a painful part of the body. The condition can occur spontaneously, especially in children." ... more >>


Drugs prescribed in the pain clinic "Patients frequently come to the pain clinic on medications which are either simply not working on their pain or are giving them inadequate pain relief. There may be many reasons for this" .. more >>	Phantom Sensations and Pains "Phantom sensations occur after loss of a part of the body, most commonly a limb. The person feels that the part of the body is still there. If it is painful as well then it is known as phantom pain."... more >>	Pain Relief from Electrical Stimulation "directed at interrupting the pain signal in the spinal cord... The theory basically is that that there is a nerve gate which can be closed so as to prevent the brain from receiving the painful signal. "... more >>


Myofascial Pain "This is pain affecting muscles and connective tissue which is more localised than fibromyalgia. It is associated with trigger points. These are string-like areas of muscle which one can literally role ones finger over. They are rather painful" ... more >>	Body Surface Pain "This refers to postherpetic neuralgia, scar pain and other tender points and trigeminal neuralgia. Postherpetic neuralgia needs a little explanation as people do get confused about it and shingles. " ... more >>	Neck Pain "As with all pain clinic assessments of paramount importance is to exclude sinister causes for the pain. These include cancer pains" more >>

Consultant Anaesthetics and Pain Management
Royal Shrewsbury Hospital and Shropshire Nuffield Hospital.
Born 1965, Edinburgh.
Qualified 1990 MBChB Manchester University.
Acquired membership of the Royal College of Anaesthetists in 1997.

Questions? Comments?
Please email me at mwm1968@aol.com

Olympia Physiotherapy Sports Medicine and Pain Management

Visit New Clinic:
www.olympiapsp.co.uk

Tel 07852 712115