About a third of middle-aged Americans deal with some sort of chronic pain in the back or neck and there are many options to treat the discomfort. But for those who have tried almost everything there's a treatment that could be a welcome last resort. NY1's Erin Billups filed the following report.
It was a car crash nearly 25 years ago that caused David Ruiz' chronic back and leg pain.
"It felt like somebody was taking a screwdriver, literally a screwdriver and just grinding it in," recalls Ruiz.
While serving an extended prison sentence Ruiz received little care for his injuries. By the time he met with St. Barnabas anesthesiologist Ajay Suman his nerves were completely damaged.
"Typically if you can fix a nerve, it'll be very soon after the injury. So when he came to me it was a permanent thing. So we tried different medications and even though it took the edge off there were side effects involved," says Dr. Ajay Suman, Medical Director at St. Barnabas Hospital Interventional Pain Clinic.
So Suman recommended spinal cord stimulation for Ruiz.
"A lot of patients typically get better with physical therapy, medications, exercise, and sometimes an epidural injection or a facet injection. Spinal cord stimulation is something that can be used as a substitute in conjunction with, or before surgery," says Dr. Suman.
Or after surgery if pain persists.
It works sort of like a pacemaker. Leads are woven into the epidural space in the spine and, when turned on, it sends an electrical signal to the affected nerves.
"It's difficult for your brain to process pressure and pain at the same time. So what this device does is, it causes a soothing/tingling sensation and that blocks the pain signal from reaching your brain," explains Dr. Suman.
The technology has been around for decades, but recent advances have led to greater accuracy and a smaller battery pack, which is implanted under the skin.
Ruiz says he jumped at the opportunity.
"I been on ibuprofen for almost 22 years, it's not doing nothing for me no more. I wasn't looking for OxyContin or any other types of drugs cause that’s a very addictive drug," he says.
And for him, the stimulator did the trick.
"Relief. Like I'm in heaven, like I never had the pain. Don't get me wrong, once in a while I got to take a pain pill but it's not like every day," says Ruiz.
Less pain means more time to pursue his goals, which include counseling troubled kids.