Chronic Pain - Alternative Treatments with implanted stimulators

The device used is from Medtronic, not cheap but offers some non pharmaceutical relief for those dealing with constant pain...and $20,000 for the device as well as surgical expenses are something to think about...

For people with chronic pain, relief comes with a tradeoff. Bed rest means missing out on life. Drugs take the edge off, but they also dull the senses and the mind.

But there’s another potential option: implantable stimulators that blunt pain with electrical impulses. In this case, the tradeoff is living with a low-grade buzzing sensation in place of the pain.
The devices, which are implanted near the spine, are not widely used. They are expensive, don’t work for everyone and rarely offer complete relief. Industry officials estimate that fewer than 10 percent of eligible patients opt for the treatment. “When they first feel the sensation they say, ‘That’s weird,’” said Dr. North, who treats patients at the LifeBridge Health Brain and Spine Institute in Baltimore. “It quickly becomes clear that ‘weird’ is going to be just fine if it replaces the pain.”