21 Century Medicine: Killing Pain (15 of 25)

Doctor Fishman started Susie's treatment with oral medication, then proceeded with a series of specialized nerve blocks to quiet the inflamed area of her upper shoulder.
Passing a very thin needle through Susie's throat, he bathed the affected part of her nervous system with a local anesthetic.
Most pain treatments come with no guarantees.
Doctor Fishman knew if the third block didn't keep the pain away, he would have to take Susie to the next step.
Then the next step would be to use this technology called the spinal cord stimulator, which fakes the nervous system out.
It uses the same electrical noise that the nervous system uses to communicate with itself.
That noise, the electricity provided by the system, jams the pain signal and keeps it from reaching the brain.

The spinal cord stimulator has two major components, a palm-sized battery and a narrow lead.
Both are surgically placed close to the spine and feed small amounts of electrical signal to the nerves in that area.
It 's the same principle as rubbing your elbow after you've bumped it.
The sensation of rubbing overrides and confuses the signals of pain.
Unlike Susie Arbagast, Connie Page suffers from nerve damage of an unknown cause.
It 's been to the point where I couldn't even go out of the house to go to the grocery store or to sit in a movie.
It causes burning pain in her feet that radiates up one leg.
It 's just been off the wall, and the medications that they've poured into me either haven't worked or have made me very, very sick.
Connie has decided to try the stimulator.
But before a battery is implanted long-term, stimulator candidates like Connie try the system temporarily.
Doctor Karen Pantazis, an anesthesiologist, performs the trial.