Resources, Treatment

Pain Pump & Nerve Stimulator Information

A reader and I have been e-mailing about pain pumps, or intrathecal drug delivery systems, for headaches. In the process of researching them, I came across some great information.

On the San Francisco Medical Society’s website, there is an overview of all pain therapies. The information isn’t technical and dense and it isn’t an overwhelming amount of information. It’s simply a series of paragraphs on different topics, from opioids and antidepressants to “invasive therapies” and implanted systems. The article is one of the best I’ve seen.

Pain pumps and nerve stimulators are discussed on WebMD in a transcript of an online conversation with a pain specialist. It covers questions patients want to know; not just what the companies that make the devices want to tell you.

Even outrageously biased information can be useful. Medtronic (a medical device manufacturer) has a site called Tame the Pain, which is essentially an informercial for pain pumps and stimulators. But it has a wealth of information on treatments about which there’s little patient-accessible information.