What is a Spinal Cord Stimulation Trial?

For patients who have had little-to-no success in relieving their chronic pain by treatments and surgeries, some are finding success with spinal cord stimulation implants. Spinal cord stimulation is used to interfere with the transmission of pain signals to the brain so the patient doesn’t “feel” the pain. The brain simply does not recognize that pain is coming from the affected area. Before a stimulator is permanently implanted into a patient, a spinal cord stimulation trial is conducted. This temporary stimulator will give the patient an opportunity to experience spinal cord stimulation for approximately seven days and help determine if a permanent stimulator would be beneficial.