6 Benefits of Implanted Intrathecal Pain Pumps for Pain Relief

Pain can keep you from doing things that lift your spirits.

Things like playing with the grandkids, working out, and going for walks in freshly fallen snow.

Imagine being able to control your pain with the push of a button.

That’s what an intrathecal pain pump can do for you.

Doctors have been recommending pain pumps for cancer pain, pain from injuries, and other kinds of chronic pain for over 40 years.

Here are six ways pain pumps can help you: 

1. Controlled pain relief for up to five years. 

It takes time for pills and caplets to digest and pass through the blood barrier to provide pain relief.

And bringing medication with you everywhere is not always convenient or possible.

With an intrathecal pump, you can press a button for immediate pain relief at any time and increase or decrease the dose as needed. 

Intrathecal pain pumps are implanted under the skin in a one-time procedure.

They can dispense pain relief on call for five years before needing replacement. 

2. 24/7 pain relief.

Pain medication eventually wears off, and sometimes, you may forget to take it.

Wouldn’t it be nice to sleep through the night and wake up in the morning pain-free, without needing to reach for pills?

You can set your pain pump to dispense pain relief all day and all night.

3. No side effects or risk for dependence.

You have to take much higher doses of oral pain medication because it passes through the digestive system before providing pain relief.

Higher doses can cause short and long-term side effects such as kidney or liver failure and constipation. 

But with pain pumps, medication is delivered directly to the pain site through your nervous system at a much lower dose. 

This way, there’s no pleasurable high and no risk for dependence (unlike opioids and other medications). 

4. The procedure is reversible. 

Unlike invasive surgeries intended to correct pain conditions, the pump implant procedure makes no permanent changes to your body.

And if you decide it isn’t working for you, you can have the pump removed at any time. 

5. Can test it before having the implant procedure. 

You can take a “test drive” or try out a pain pump to see whether it gives you the pain relief you need.

The trial pump involves a health professional installing a temporary pump system on your body.

It’s a lot like the permanent system, and you can try it for a few days. 

The faster alternative is a trial injection of a single dose of pain medication administered through a small catheter in the intrathecal space in your lower back.

If it brings relief, you may want to get a pain pump.

6. This therapy has a high satisfaction rate. 

In 2018 Nura Clinics ran a survey of 600 patients who had implanted pain pumps to relieve chronic pain.

Over 74% said they experienced “good to excellent pain relief.”

Over 90% said they experienced at least partial pain relief. 

Could a pain pump be for you?

Have you tried other pain therapies and treatments that haven’t worked?

Our caring team of pain specialists can help you decide whether intrathecal pain pump therapy is right for you.

Please give Texas Pain Physicians a call today at (972) 676-5727 or book your appointment online.