Archbold Medical Center| Archives Magazine | Winter 2018

6 ARCHBOLD MEDICAL CENTER NEW THERAPY BRINGS RELIEF OCCASIONAL ACHES and pains are common after an injury, and they usually become less severe as the injury heals. But if you continue to battle pain after the injury has healed, you could be experiencing chronic pain, a condition that affects roughly 8 percent of the adult population in the United States. And in some cases, people experience chronic pain without any prior injury. Congenital abnormalities of the vertebrae and bones, arthritis, and protruding of herniated disks can also cause chronic pain. “Chronic pain is a condition that persists for several months, despite treatment and natural coping efforts,” said Gerald Kadis, MD, Archbold neurosurgeon. “Chronic pain can be caused by injury, infection or an ongoing ailment.” Doctors often recommend less invasive therapies first, and, if necessary, escalate to spinal cord stimulation to relieve the pain, before surgery is recommended. Spinal cord stimulation (SCS) is an established, safe therapy that involves delivering energy to the spinal cord through small wires in the back. Developed as a therapy in the 1970s, SCS works by delivering small electrical pulses to the pain-sensing pathways of the spinal cord, effectively altering the pain signals traveling to the brain. The therapy is typically prescribed for the treatment of chronic pain in the back, trunk or limbs. New treatment Archbold is now offering the newest type of SCS, called HF10™ therapy. This therapeutic option delivers a frequency of 10 kilohertz to provide more pain relief to more patients without causing any of the burning or prickling sensations. “Pain relief comes without tingling or movement-induced shock, so patients are able to sleep or drive while using HF10™ therapy,” said Dr. Kadis. “That’s a great advantage of this type of therapy.” The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has labeled HF10™ therapy as superior to other conventional SCS sys- tems due to increased pain relief. CHRONIC PAIN Gerald Kadis, MD Neurosurgeon