Why do I have neck pain?
Mild neck pain is often due to poor posture; for example, bending over a keyboard or games console for extended periods makes your neck stiff and sore. Twisting your neck awkwardly or sleeping with your head at an odd angle can also cause pain.
Sudden pain is typically due to an acute injury that stretches or tears the connective tissues in your cervical spine — the seven vertebrae that form your neck. Whiplash is a frequent acute neck injury, occurring when your head moves violently back and forth. Fractures can cause severe acute neck pain.
The discs between your cervical vertebrae could flatten and harden (degenerative disc disease), increasing your risk of disc herniation (where the soft center leaks through a tear in the disc’s outer shell).
Other chronic neck pain causes include osteoarthritis, which can alter the spine’s alignment, thicken ligaments, and trigger bone spur growth that narrows the spinal canal (spinal stenosis). You could also get neck pain from overuse injuries that cause tissue irritation to build up over several months.
How is my neck pain’s cause determined?
When you visit Dr. Buyanov with neck pain, your provider asks about your pain and other symptoms and reviews your medical history. They perform a thorough exam, looking for visible abnormalities and checking how well your neck moves.
You might need further tests to ensure your provider can view the extent of the damage. X-ray, CT, and MRI diagnostic imaging are standard options. Once they have a clear picture of what’s causing your neck pain, your provider can design an appropriate treatment plan tailored to suit you.
What treatments help relieve neck pain?
Dr. Buyanov usually offers patients conservative treatments at first as these are often sufficient to address neck pain. If they don’t provide enough relief, the team offers various interventional neck pain treatments.
Treatments that may feature in your rehabilitation include:
- Physical therapy
- Anti-inflammatory medication
- Activity modification
- Epidural steroid injections
- Nerve blocks
- Ketamine infusions
- Radiofrequency ablation
- Spinal cord stimulation
Spinal cord stimulation changes how nerves communicate with your brain, so you don’t receive pain messages. It involves having a procedure to implant an electronic device under your skin, so it generally becomes an option only when other treatments fail to reduce neck pain.
What is a spinal cord stimulator?
Spinal cord stimulation reduces pain in patients whose condition resists other treatments. The spinal cord stimulator device is an implant that goes under your skin. It sends electrical signals to your spinal nerves that interfere with their ability to transmit pain messages to your brain.
You control the spinal cord stimulator’s signal strength using a remote device. You can increase stimulation when your pain worsens, then dial back when it’s less severe.
What kinds of pain can a spinal cord stimulator treat?
A spinal cord stimulator treats pain in the nerves around your spine. It’s most effective at reducing pain originating from the nerves, often due to radiculopathy (spinal nerve compression). Cervical radiculopathy is a common neck pain cause; lumbar radiculopathy (sciatica) causes pain that travels into the hip, buttock, and leg.
Herniated discs, degenerative disc disease, arthritis, and spondylolisthesis (where a vertebra slides over the top of the one below) are common causes of long-term back pain. Spinal cord stimulation can also treat pain disorders like complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS).
Is a spinal cord stimulator the right option for me?
Most people with chronic pain don’t require a spinal cord stimulator because other treatments control their symptoms adequately.
Activity modification, anti-inflammatory medication, physical therapy, and other conservative measures work for many patients. Epidural steroid injections and nerve blocks can help if your pain is more persistent. The Premier Pain Consultants team also offers ketamine infusions and radiofrequency ablation for the most treatment-resistant pain.
The team will only suggest a spinal cord stimulator trial if these approaches are ineffective.
What does a spinal cord stimulator trial involve?
A spinal cord stimulator trial ensures the treatment is impactful enough to make full implantation worthwhile.
Your provider inserts temporary electrodes (wires) in your spine, then attaches them to an external spinal cord stimulator you wear at home for about seven days. Afterward, you visit Premier Pain Consultants to let the team know how you got on.
Full implantation is the next step if your trial results are good and you feel happy about the procedure. The implantable pulse generator (IPG) that powers the stimulator sits under your skin, attached to permanent electrodes carefully positioned to provide maximum pain relief.