If you have chronic foot or ankle pain, the idea of running an electrical current through your nerves might seem like the stuff of nightmares. In fact, it’s one of the most successful methods for treating chronic foot & ankle pain without any adverse effects.
At Alliance Foot & Ankle Specialists, we have often found patient response to Electrical Stimulation to be positive -- because it helps! Dr. Richard Nichols’s and Dr. Joseph Harvey’s experience, knowledge, and expertise can help you overcome the limitations of chronic foot & ankle pain, too.
Electricity and Your Nervous System
If you think of your nerves as power lines and the signals they transmit as electricity, it becomes easier to understand how Neurostimulation might help with chronic pain. The pain you feel is transmitted from your foot to your brain in electrical signals.
Neurostimulation gently interrupts those signals with mild electrical pulses. When the signal for pain can’t reach the nerves that create the sensation, you don’t feel the sensation.
Finding Out if Neurostimulator Works for You
At Alliance Foot & Ankle, we use the Implantable Neurostimulator Pulse Generator to treat chronic, painful conditions.
We attach a small device as a trial to your ear for 7-10 days to find out if Neurostimulation works to alleviate your pain. The device has four small electrodes that send electrical frequencies to various nerves.
You come back in for a follow-up appointment, and your doctor reevaluates your situation.
No Side Effects
All too often, people with chronic pain take opioids, the dangers of which are now well-documented. Neurostimulation offers an alternative method of alleviating your pain without the side effects and dangers of other types of painkillers.
Even if you can control your pain with over-the-counter medications, there are dangers in using them long-term. Neurostimulation doesn’t carry those same risks.
Care Tailored to Suit You
There are lots of potential causes of chronic foot pain. For example, you may have peripheral nerve damage, or you may have arthritis. The best treatment for your pain depends on a variety of factors, including the underlying cause.
Dr. Nichols and Dr. Harvey both provide thorough evaluations to determine the cause of your pain before suggesting a treatment plan. Your treatment should fit you and your issue, so they don’t recommend Neurostimulation to every patient with chronic foot & ankle pain.
If you’d like to find out if an electrical current might ease your chronic pain, give us a call, and schedule an appointment at the location most convenient for you. The number to our Grapevine location is 817-481-4000, and you can reach our Keller office at 817-741-4800.