ABOVE: International Neuromodulation Society member Dr. Peter Staats, an interventional pain specialist, inserts the lead of a spinal cord stimulation system along the spine of a chronic pain patient.
COURTESY OF ST. JUDE MEDICAL (2012)
Ultra-low frequency electric currents reduced perceived lower back pain by 90 percent in a group of 18 patients, scientists report August 25 in Science Translational Medicine.
“The changes in pain scores are impressive,” says Jeremy Walker, an anesthesiologist at Vanderbilt University Medical Center who was not involved in the study. “While I would have some concerns about the long-term effects . . . the degree of pain relief certainly justifies further study.”
Most treatments for pain are pharmaceutical, but unfortunately these drugs can come with serious side effects, including the risk of developing a substance use disorder. So Stephen McMahon, a physiologist at King’s College London, and his colleagues decided to take a different approach: using ...
